Beautiful Soul
by BuggyFiction
Summary: After spending years on the run from the Cullens, a frayed Bella finds sanctuary in the unlikeliest of places where she can't be traced, tracked, by any kind of Supernatural means. With highs and lows, Bella slowly manages to rebuild herself.
1. Prologue

DÉBAUCHE DOES IT AGAIN.

by Buggy

We all know about the hottest, trendiest bar in New Orleans, right? That's right! Forget about Rousseau's and all flock to Débauche!

Débauche started in 1960 as a small bar. Transformed in the 1970's into a disco until the late 80's when it changed hands and turned into the wonderful being we all now know as 'the place to be'. The bar had its struggles for a while, but thanks to a generous anonymous donor, it stayed open and is now flourishing.

Not only does Débauche has the best atmosphere in their gorgeous renovated bar that fits the New Orleans spirit so well, they also have the best strip club. Okay, maybe not, but as a woman, I felt more safe there than in others.

The bar is well isolated when it comes to noise pollution from the strip club which makes it a great place to hang out, have meetings, during the day when it's quiet. In the evening, it makes it that you don't have to yell at each other to talk.

Débauche recently hired a bar manager from Europe. France, to be exact and his mixed drinks are heavenly. They're delicious and makes you beg for more. Ferdi makes the best cocktails. He has a special ingredient that he puts in nearly every one of them and no matter how many drinks I consumed and begged him to spill his secrets, he wouldn't let up.

The strip club can be reached through the hallway when you pay a modest amount of money to get in. But even so, it's money well spent. It's clean and everything is just right. For years, 'The A-Squad' have been the main attraction and the girls like to switch things up every now and then. Their latest routine is not only incredibly hot and sexy, it's also funny as hell. Their new show is called 'Appearances are deceiving' and they sure are!

The club and bar's owner, Myriam Jenkins, is ageless. No, seriously, she doesn't seem to age and she didn't want to give away her secret, other than that she moisturized and had a healthy appetite.

There is a waiting list of at least two weeks for you to enter the strip club, but I can assure you, it is well worth the wait and well worth the money.

Go check it out!


	2. Ringing Their Own Bell

**New Orleans, 1781**

General O'Reilly's arrival a few years ago had been the best that had ever happened, according to Mr. Jenkins. He brought back crime, invested a lot of money into New Orleans and changed the shape of everything. Of course, he was only taking advantage of what the Mikaelson family had been doing, but they didn't seem to particularly care.

Myriam knew the truth. She may not have been a scholar, and she may have been the daughter of an unwed prostitute and raised by an old farmer, but she often saw what other people didn't. She had often seen them talk to each other in a tongue that she didn't understand, but it was beautiful. It was soft and well spoken. Much like the French language, but more interesting.

As a child, she had often stalked them, mostly the beautiful blonde Rebekah, as she went out to order new dresses. If only Myriam were able to buy one of those beautiful dresses, then everything would be alright - of course, a child's fantasy is the most precious thing in existence, but now, she knew better.

Myriam was too old to find a husband - not for a lack of trying, but who wanted a poor farmer's girl with a questionable history? She was too old to bear children of her own and life had made her bitter. When her mother passed when she was only ten years of age, Myriam ended up living at Farmer Jenkin's farm, and she never left.

She couldn't leave.

Because if she left, Mr. Jenkins would certainly find her and kill her. He had been a widower when he took in Myriam. No children of his own. His wife had been killed by one of the French rebels as she went into town to buy cloth to make clothes. Not only had she been killed, but she had been raped and robbed.

Mr. Jenkins had never really gotten over that.

Almost every day, he wanted Myriam to do his bidding. Worship him as he should be, because he saved her from a life on the streets. Instead, she slept in a cold barn and was only allowed in the house to take some food. Whenever she saw a way out, Mr. Jenkins was there to stop her.

He was an old man now, and she wasn't getting any younger either. Most women her age would have an army of children now, a caring husband. A decent life. Not like she was having. She wasn't even sure if she was still alive if she had to be completely honest.

Then the big storm hit in 1780. It was somewhere in August, and it came unexpectedly. She managed to seek refuge in the basement, but the entire farm and crops were destroyed. When she finally dared to leave her hiding place a couple of days later, she found Mr. Jenkins' body in the duck pond.

While she now had lost everything, she felt relieved. She could do whatever she wanted, but what was that? She was a woman in her thirties!

Much to her surprise, she had found someone a few months later. A real gentleman and he spoke French! She could understand him and he began to teach her the other languages spoken in New Orleans. And at first, it was nice. He was kind and provided for her, but when he had an accident, things changed. He became abusive. Hit her like Mr. Jenkins had done. Took her against her will, as Mr. Jenkins had done.

She found herself trapped once again.

Until that day. That one, glorious day that started so horrible but ended so much better.

Jacques had taken her into town and while he was filling himself up with alcohol, as was the norm since the accident, she was allowed to buy herself something pretty. However, when she returned with her new shoes, he got mad with her. How dare she spend his money on new shoes while her old shoes were perfectly fine?

He started to publicly abuse her, something he usually did behind closed doors. Called her names. Began to tear her clothes. Right in front of everyone to see. During their fight, somehow he smashed his bottle and stabbed her with it before running off.

As she lay dying, one of the Mikaelsons whom she knew was called Klaus, lifted her up and told her that everything was going to be alright. She wasn't quite sure what had happened after he had lifted her, but the next thing she knew was waking up in a very expensive looking hotel room. Klaus was sitting in a chair across the room, watching her as she came to her senses.

It was then that he told her that she never had to worry anymore. That he would take care of her, but that soon enough, she'd be able to take care of herself. She was strong now. Immortal. She was going to be his secret - which she was fine with.

The moment Klaus set her free after teaching her what he knew, she sought out Jacques and killed him out of revenge while Klaus proudly watched on.

~o.O.o~

 **New Orleans, 2013**

She passed one of the members of the A-squad with a client on her way down to Myriam's office. Aria, the oldest member of the squad, seemed to be good at everything. Aria's expertise lay with private dance sessions on the first floor. Oh, Bella didn't judge with how many the woman slept with, hell, Bella enjoyed it as well, but she and Aria didn't really get along. The dancer seemed to have this air about that Bella wasn't able to shake but since Myriam trusted Aria and Bella trusted Myriam… there wasn't a lot that she could do about it.

Once on ground level, Bella walked through the lounge and peeked into the hallway before stepping out and immediately turned right to get through the thick security door with her own passcode. She was still surprised that Myriam had given her her own code, but the woman had been serious about training her and educating her. Bella had been with Myriam for about two years now.

She had spent five years on the run from the Cullens and the Volturi before hearing of Myriam's place in New Orleans. It truly was a safe place; whoever was inside the building couldn't be detected by any magic or gift, and she hadn't felt this safe, this free, for a very long time. The best thing of all; Myriam allowed her to do whatever she wanted. If she wanted to work, she would work. If she didn't, she didn't. Maybe it was because Bella didn't desire to get paid and all her earned money, whether it being tips or something else, would go straight into the establishment.

Or maybe, it was the fact that her boss' friend with benefit had taken a liking to Bella as a friend and yet another friend with benefit. They were currently sharing the same man. Sort of. Bella got paid to do it, and Myriam did not. A wide grin appeared on her face as she pushed through the doors. It had been a while since she'd seen him. Maybe, one of these days, he'd come by again.

Yes, despite her still being on the run, she was having fun. She was safe, and as long as she didn't have to think or talk about Cold Ones, she was fine.

She walked passed the security office to her boss' office and knocked on the door before entering. "Evening, Myriam," Bella greeted her as she stood in the doorway. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes!" Myriam turned around with a broad smile on her face. While Myriam was an ancient vampire - well, she was older than the Cullens, which made her old to Bella, she was still kind underneath that hard and tough exterior she liked people to see her with. "We have a VIP guest coming in, in about…" she looked at the clock. "Oh, fifteen minutes. He booked Grace, but as you know…"

"She's sick," Bella said with a slow nod. Grace was one of the employees who went home after work. "And let me guess, when you called him, he wanted something only I can provide."

"Well, not necessarily," she replied. "But you'll like him. He usually doesn't want any intercourse; he only wants some company."

Bella let out a grunt. She hated those type of men. "What else?"

Myriam pulled a book out of one of her drawers and handed it to Bella. "The last time he was here, Grace read chapter six when his time ran out. It's usually an hour and a half, two at most."

"Shoot me now," she groaned and ran a hand through her unruly hair. "I wanted to dye my hair again."

"Well, that's just gonna have to wait," Myriam said with a grin. "VIP room two is open for you and I've left you an outfit you have to wear for him." Before Bella could speak up again, she continued. "He pays well. He's a sweet man and I'll owe you one if you could do this."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Just who is this man, exactly?"

"If you're lucky, he'll introduce himself. Now, go upstairs and prepare yourself. Time's of the essence."

With a sigh, Bella tucked the book under her arm and left the office. Fifteen minutes to prepare? This was nuts. She needed at least an hour. She hadn't taken a proper shower in a couple of days because she hadn't felt like doing anything. It was the seasonal change that dampened her spirits, and maybe the absence of the man she shared with Myriam.

She called it sharing because he had eyes for only her and Myriam. Which was a strange conundrum, being in a building with so many attractive women, more beautiful than Bella. And the worst of it all was that she didn't even mind. She had seen him as a client at first and then something else blossomed from that, a friendship. A kinship.

Bella didn't even dare to start claiming him as hers because it wasn't her place and she didn't think she was ever going to be someone's girlfriend ever again. No, Fuckward cured her of that. But it didn't take away the fact that she did miss him.

When Myriam told her stories she heard on the street about the happenings in the Supernatural community; such as the Mikaelsons getting into some trouble with the witches and their own family, she couldn't help but wonder if he had been caught up with it and how he was feeling, how he was doing. If he was alright.

And that was dangerous. She had started to care far too much about him but really couldn't help herself.

Lost in thought, she bumped into another A-Squatter on the stairs, this time it was Alina and her solid abs. Alina was beautiful, and Bella wondered what she was up to, but when she saw the other girls come downstairs, apart from Aria, she knew that the girls were going to have some fun and tease the men in the strip club, maybe angling for a private dance.

Bella liked that. Sure, she moved awkwardly - she honestly had gotten better over the years, but dancing was not her thing - but men found it endearing for some reason. She didn't seem like a 'seasoned professional', and when she discovered she could exploit that for the sake of the club, she did. Plus, it gave her a tremendous ego boost. Because dammit, she was sexy despite looking like a boy sometimes.

Clothes helped. Make-up helped. She had beautiful hair she liked to dye in the weirdest colors. Pretending to be someone she was not, or at least not partially, was a fun game. She liked to have fun. Maybe this client Myriam had asked her to see was going to be the catalyst to get out of her funk.

She rushed into the VIP room and skidded to a halt when she saw the outfit she was supposed to wear. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed it and headed for the ensuite bathroom to clean herself up. Fifteen minutes - fourteen now - wasn't enough to do everything, but she was going to have to try.

She turned on the shower and stripped out of her clothes before ducking into one of the cupboards to get a razor and some shaving cream, and since Myriam said there wasn't going to be any intercourse, she was going to stick to her legs and armpits. She quickly shaved, discarded the utensils in the small waste bucket and hopped underneath the water for a quick rinse.

Nearly falling over as she turned, she grabbed the bottle of shampoo and washed her hair. Normally she'd take her time and let the conditioner soothe her hair for a good five to ten minutes, but now she didn't have the time. A little soft would have to do. Besides, with the outfit, maybe it was better to have her hair pinned up anyway.

She washed her body and rinsed herself off before getting out and started to dry herself while reaching for a packed toothbrush. Ripping the package open with her teeth, she smacked her elbow against the wall and cursed out loud. It wasn't good for her to do things rushed, yet Myriam asked her for a rush job. Bella wasn't happy. And her elbow freaking hurt, too.

Was Myriam fed up with her and wanted Bella to off herself or something? She was lucky she didn't cut herself with the razor blade; not only did it hurt like a motherfucker, but with a handful of vampires working in the building, it wasn't a good idea either. Was it April fools? No, it wasn't. April had already gone.

She dried her hair thoroughly and decided to quickly blast it with a hairdryer when she was in her outfit. While it was alright to have damp hair to a certain degree - as it showed the client that his girl had showered and was clean - Bella's hair had the tendency to stay dripping wet for a good hour or two despite doing her best to get it as dry as possible.

With only a minute or two to spare, she cleaned up the bathroom for her client's use and managed not to break her neck over her own feet as she rushed to the door, waiting for the gentle knock so she could open it. From her position at the door, she glanced around the room to make sure she hadn't disturbed anything with her bumping around and let out a deep breath. She had managed to get ready in fifteen minutes and nobody died. Good job.

When the knock came - five minutes later than it was supposed to come, Bella opened the door with a big smile and stared into the face of Luke Harris. She knew it was Luke Harris because his face was all over in the gossip magazines as his songs were instant hits. And he was gorgeous. Even more breathtaking than all the pictures she'd seen of him. "Hi," she greeted him and took a step aside to let him in. "My name is Bella, and I'll be entertaining you tonight."

"Where's Grace?" Harris muttered as he got in and waited for Bella to close the door. When she did, he turned around. "I was supposed to meet Grace tonight. It's our night."

His eyes looked a little bit freaky. His pupils were slightly dilated, but he seemed tired, and his breath didn't smell like alcohol. "Didn't Myriam tell you? Grace is sick."

"Oh, yeah…" he tiredly rubbed his eyes before reaching into his pocket to hand Bella an envelope. "It's all there. I'll wash up."

Bella watched as he slinked off to the bathroom, his feet dragging over the floor. There was no way that he'd have the energy to have sex, and it made sense that Grace had been reading to him. She checked the money inside the envelope before putting it away in a safe place and made herself comfortable on the bed with the book.

If she had to be honest, this onesie she was wearing, made sense. Of course, it did. As ridiculous as she felt in it, it made sense.

She was going to read a few chapters of War and Peace to rockstar extraordinaire Luke Harris. Could life be any weirder? Of course, she wasn't new to having famous people or influential people as a client, but they were usually reserved for the regular girls as Bella lived on a day to day basis. And she wouldn't show her excitement, she was a professional after all, but this was awesome.

It was a good twenty minutes before he finally emerged from the bathroom, naked. From her spot on the bed, she could observe him just perfectly; his unruly hair had become even more so, which was a hilarious sight. The tattoos on his chest were kinda beautiful, just like the one he had on the inside of his upper leg. His arms were massive. His six pack was there and his cock…

Definitely erect.

Hadn't Myriam said that there was probably not going to be any intercourse? Not that Bella would object but - No, something was off. He nearly leaped on the bed from his position near the bathroom and pinned her to the bed in one fluid movement; it was then that she saw the crazed look in his eyes. Eyes wide, pupils dilated and something was terribly wrong.

While the entire club, the bar, and the brothel were entirely drug-free, it didn't stop people from taking drugs before they'd enter. And since Luke was a VIP, he was a regular. Regulars knew the rules. He'd probably taken them only seconds before coming in view of the club and of course, it would take some time to start working. It hadn't been detectable, and now Bella was fucked.

"Hey," she smiled at him, not showing her fear. She didn't have to alert anyone just yet. Yes, he had taken drugs, but not all drugs were bad. "Are you alright?" she ran a hand through his hair as she kept her eyes on him, observing his face, his eyes.

"You're not Grace."

"No," she smiled kindly at him. "But if you'd just tell me what you always do with her, we can do it too."

"Fuck that," Luke growled as he put his hands around Bella's neck. "I want Grace," he demanded as he started to squeeze her, shaking her around. "You're going to give me Grace!"

Gasping for air, Bella tried to kick him off of her. It was a good thing for the girls that they had a mind reader on staff so that they could call out to them as all the rooms were soundproofed for privacy. But of course, Bella was cursed with a shield thing that prevented mind readers from getting inside her head. As she couldn't use her voice, she had to try it. Appalachia! Appalachia!

She tried hitting him, but it only made him squeeze harder. Kicking him didn't work, he had positioned himself so that she couldn't move her legs. With Luke being on drugs, it was even harder to fight him. She tried looking around and managed to grab the thick book she was supposed to be reading to him and hit him over the head with it, repeatedly, until he let go of her.

As she ran towards the door, she took a few breaths of air, only to have it immediately knocked out of her again as Luke had grabbed her legs and she fell face down on the floor. This time, however, she was able to kick him in the head, and she could have sworn she heard something snap and hoped it was his nose, not his neck.

Adrenaline pumping, Bella got to her feet and opened the door. "Appalachia!" Her voice sounded a little raw, but the second she spoke the word, security came running in and made sure that the naked Rockstar couldn't do any more harm.

Even Myriam was there, mainly to calm Bella down as she had collapsed in her arms, but Bella was angry with her. Pushing Myriam away from her, she stomped towards the stairs to go a level higher and headed straight for her apartment.

No, this 'favor', didn't do her depression any good.

She slammed the door shut and let herself fall to the floor as she tried to collect herself, get her breathing back in order and to let it go before she'd tell her side of things to security and Myriam to see what would happen next, but for now, she was glad that she was alone.


	3. A little love

While the immediate threat to his daughter had been taken care of, Klaus was resting on his laurels. Well, not really. He was taking care of Hope. Elijah was angry with him - for good reason. Oh, Klaus knew that he had hurt his brother in the worst way possible by killing his lover and allowing Haley's pack to be cursed yet again. His brother felt betrayed. Did Klaus feel guilty? Hardly. He did what was necessary for his family, for his daughter.

In time, Elijah would come around. He'd see reason.

Freya was a breath of fresh air. She only knew of Klaus' secret because she had followed him when she first came back into their lives. There and then, she cast a few new spells for extra protection, for which he'd been grateful. If he had to be honest, it was time he'd go back to Myriam and see how she and her girls were doing.

But he had Hope now. She was the center of his life, and she was the best thing ever. He was completely in love with his little girl; nothing else mattered.

He had never expected Myriam to call; she was a strong and resourceful woman and didn't need his help. Nor was she one for making social calls, so he was immediately intrigued. "Myriam, how wonderful of you to call!"

Klaus was amused when he heard her huff on the other end of the line. " _I get it you have your own crap to deal with, but you need to get your ass over here right now."_

He tsked. "A little demanding, are we?" He watched as Hope rolled over and snatched her teddy bear from the edge of the blanket. "You can't expect me to drop everything for a quick shag; that wasn't our arrangement."

" _It's Bella."_

He immediately sat up from his relaxed position. "What happened?" Klaus demanded as he didn't stop looking at Hope.

" _She hasn't been feeling well lately, and she just had a client who assaulted her."_

Klaus let out a growl, causing Hope to look up to see what her father was up to. "I'll be right over." He disconnected the call and called for his brother.

"What is it, Niklaus?" Elijah sounded pleasant enough, but there was a sharp edge to his voice as was the norm these days.

"I need you to watch Hope for a while," he said as he grabbed his coat.

"Why?"

Klaus merely eyed his brother.

"Very well. Whatever you're going to do without being able to take your daughter with you, have fun."

Klaus could hear the disdain drip off his brother's voice and chose to ignore it. He quickly made his way over to Débauche, using his vampire speed to blur through the streets and around tourists. Whoever hurt her was going to pay. Granted, this wasn't the first time she, or someone else, got hurt. But for Myriam to call him, things were more dire than usual.

Last year, Bella had gone through depression as well, she had a tendency to do that, and it wasn't even related to her past for the most part. Normally, either himself or Myriam would simply compel someone when that happened, tucking the reasons away in the depths of their own minds, but Bella was special. She couldn't be compelled, and no one was able to read her mind.

He darted up the fire escape at the back of the building and let himself in on the third floor. The door was securely locked with a code pad, and he had access to it. He went downstairs first, to talk to Myriam and assess the situation. He didn't have to look far, she was in the security office with someone who looked like he'd been hit a couple of times, but he was quiet. Myriam probably compelled him.

"Is this the bastard?" Klaus said as he stepped into the room, furious.

"Don't kill him," Myriam said kindly and stopped Klaus from entering further. "He's a famous singer."

"I don't care."

"He's also under the influence, but we have this under control. His bruises are Bella's doing," Myriam looked up to him and made him look at her before slapping him in the face. "And you're an asshole. You actually couldn't find the time to pay us a visit sooner?" She slapped him again. "Fucker."

Klaus scowled. "I was busy, and you're doing fine on your own. You're well protected." She slapped him again and pulled her arm back for another, but he caught her arm before she could hit him. "It's complicated."

"Bull," she said furiously before sighing. "She's in her apartment."

He let go of her arm and looked at the asshole in the chair. "Make him pay."

"Klaus, I have my way dealing with people like him, don't worry, he'll give us some free publicity," she smirked as she pushed him towards the door. "When you have time after Bella, see me."

He made his way back upstairs and gently knocked on the door. "Bella, love?" he asked gently, he could hear her sob on the other side of the door.

" _Go away. You can't stay away for a while and then swoop in to be a hero!"_

Klaus sighed, his fist resting against her door. "Let me in so that I can explain. I will tell you why I have been kept away, but I doubt very much that you will believe my story. I - I just could not have stayed away when Myriam called to tell me you were in trouble," he pleaded, his voice soft. "Are you hurt?"

" _Like I said, no need for you to swoop in and play hero!"_

"I've seen the guy," Klaus said almost proudly. "You certainly don't need me to be your hero with you being one yourself!"

" _Exactly. Now leave."_

"I can't do that, love," Klaus realized that she wasn't going to open the door for him, and he wasn't going to force the door open. He sat down against the door and sighed. "Are you hurt?"

Bella kept quiet. Of course, she was hurt, what kind of nonsense question was that? She wanted to open the door, hug him tightly and allow him to tell her that everything was going to be alright, but she didn't want him to see her like this. She was a complete mess right now and no, this was not going to happen.

It had been two months, two whole months, since he last visited. It was with his sister Freya, as she caught him sneaking off. His appearances had been scarce even before that, but two whole months?

"The events that happened in the last two months are too many to be the truth, but they are," Klaus spoke, not missing a beat. He spoke quiet enough for just Bella to hear and not that his story carried down the hall. "I already told you about the miraculous return of my siblings and my parents, didn't I? Well, things have come to a messy conclusion. I want to tell you all about it if you'd just let me in."

" _No."_

"Bella…"

" _No."_

"I could break down the door."

" _You won't."_

She was right about that. Had it been anyone else, he would have bust through that door as if it was a piece of cardboard, but with Bella… he was gentle. Maybe a little too soft, but she was here for a reason. "Very well, I shall stay here as long as needed."

~o.O.o~

He had just put Hope to bed when Freya bounced inside, knocking something over in the process and waking the baby again. "Freya…" Elijah sighed as he returned his attention back to the baby.

"Where's Klaus?"

"Good to see you, Elijah, how have you been?" He said mockingly, almost with a sneer. He had a severe dislike for his brother after what he had done, and Elijah found it comfortable to wallow around in that for a while. In the past, he had easily forgiven his brother for his transgressions, but his latest actions had been unforgivable. "Sorry for waking the baby, Elijah, I shall not do that again."

Freya huffed. "Well, you're chipper. Who took away your toys, Elijah?"

"I would have imagined that Niklaus' unexplained absences ceased to be after getting what he wanted, but I've been mistaken," he muttered, pushing the pacifier back into Hope's mouth. "At least the trips where he couldn't bring a child along to."

"Even mommies deserve a break," she sat down on the table and looked at her brother. "Surely you must understand that."

"He acted as if time was of the essence!" Elijah cried out, causing Hope to spit out her pacifier again and started to cry. Frustrated, he picked her up out of her crib and soothed her. "I know that our lives rarely have any moment of serenity, but there was no reason for him to take off as he did."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I am certain, I know my brother. If there is something wrong that could impact all of our lives, he'd either run straight towards it or take a few steps back to quietly observe," he spat. "No, something else is going on, and I hate it."

"Why?"

Elijah let out a breath. He often forgot that Freya wasn't Rebekah and that she had missed a lot of important details of their lives. "I know my brother better than anyone else. We don't always get along, but I know him. He's irresponsible. A child! Whenever he gets a crazy thought in his head, he runs with it! Like-"

"Like how he was critical in defeating Dahlia by creating so much destruction," Freya finished the sentence. "I know."

"He calls it collateral damage. He's… Would you allow a car mechanic to perform an open heart surgery?"

"Oh come on, Elijah, he's not that bad."

"Niklaus only cares for himself. He considers himself to be at the top of the food chain, and we're here to take care of him, to make sure that he doesn't get moody and does stupid things."

Freya let out a sigh before hopping off the table and started to collect Hope's things. "You're wrong."

"It is admirable that you wish to see the good in people, I can understand that you want to see the good in your family, but Niklaus…"

"Is a good man and I am going to prove it to you."

"How?"

"First things first, you're going to call Camille and ask her to look after Hope for a couple of hours," Freya said as she cleaned things up. "Either here or at her place, your choice."

"Forgive me, but why?"

"I'm going to show you a side of Klaus we don't get to see all too often," Freya murmured as Hope had calmed down in Elijah's arms. "I only know about this because I followed him before, as I've followed you around before I made myself known to you."

He blinked at her, confused, before calling Camille and entertaining his sister. What could go wrong?

After Camille had arrived, Elijah followed Freya through the streets of New Orleans. His curiosity grew as she took them to the far edge of the Quarter. He'd been on this street quite a few times, even used one of the bars as a meeting place, a neutral ground, for discussing some politics and he was surprised that they were heading to Débauche. "If Niklaus is drinking his sorrows away, don't bother."

Freya stopped and looked at him. "Do you trust me?"

"No."

"Well fine, but you're going to have to trust me on this, and you have to keep quiet. If you're not keeping quiet, I will use a silencing spell on you, got it?" She shot at him, causing Elijah to look at her in surprise. "I'm going to cast an invisibility spell on the both of us because I want you to see, and not to be seen. God forbid, Klaus will kill us both on the spot if he sees us."

"If we're going inside, I know what's there."

"Oh, I'm sure you do."

"It's a bar. And there's a strip club attached to it. No doubt there's a brothel upstairs, the ladies keeping my brother's sexual appetite under control."

Freya's eyebrow rose, a smile pulling at her lips. "Perhaps. But just wait until you see and decide for yourself. It may not be all as it seems," she answered as her eyes glanced up to the third floor.

He sighed and nodded. "Very well, we've come this far."

"Being quiet is of the essence," Freya repeated. "Especially your thoughts. You have to calm your thoughts. It's possible for you to do so, yes? That nobody can hear your thoughts?"

"Of course."

"Good," she took his hand and muttered a spell before she started to walk towards the club, not letting go of him. They walked through the door and narrowly avoided bumping into guests that were leaving. Freya smiled at Elijah as she kept pulling him towards the end of the hallway and waited for a closed door.

When a man exited, she went inside. Elijah had no choice than to follow. They entered into a lounge, with a hostess, before silently climbing the stairs to the next floor, where, just as he expected, was a brothel. He suspected it was a brothel, seeing as a half naked girl was walking towards another area and returned with a pitcher filled with ice before disappearing into one of the rooms again.

Elijah was surprised by the silence that was on the level. Granted, these days brothels did a lot to battle the noise, but this was taking it one step further. Freya pulled him through another set of opening doors and climbed another set of stairs. When they arrived at the top floor, she pulled him across the space where Elijah could already hear his brother quietly talk. Rounding a corner, he was surprised to see his brother sit against a door, staring into nothingness as he spoke.

"Only because you're insisting on doing it this way," Klaus sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I promise you, it will sound ridiculous, but that's what is expected of me, especially by Elijah. He finds me monstrous and dramatic. Overly impulsive. But while he was crafting his own plan to defeat my aunt, I knew that there was only one possible way to do it, and I went behind his back. Unfortunately, my plan involved causing enough doubt and mayhem to be believable, and I killed my brother's lover. At the same time, I compelled my lieutenant not to let my sister leave his sight as she was in a different body, but I did that so Rebekah would return to us as an Original. I pretended to kill our dearest friend… I made a right mess," he then let out a snort. "You should have seen me; it was glorious."

It was quiet for a while before a voice sounded from the other side of the door. " _Somehow I doubt that."_

"Well, Elijah now hates me."

" _When doesn't he hate you? You always take his love interests away from him."_

"I do not!" Klaus objected.

" _That Katherine person. The way you told the story made me think that your brother truly loved her, and you wanted to use her to lift your curse."_

Elijah was surprised that whoever this girl was, that she knew their story.

"It was his own fault. He falls for the wrong women."

" _What about Hayley?"_

"Hayley would have only toyed with Elijah, broken his heart. It was best that I did it for him instead. He hates being angry at women, but he does a good job of being cross with me."

" _Celeste?"_

Elijah swallowed at that. While Klaus didn't have a first hand in Celeste's death, it was his fault that Elijah had lost her.

"Accidental. How was I supposed to know that she was gathering with her witches? All I did was spread a rumor that the witches were responsible for the dead bodies we've left scattered around. That's it."

A sigh could be heard from the other side of the door. In all honesty, even Elijah was surprised to hear his brother talk so candidly about his life with a stranger. Not even Camille had been able to reach his brother like this girl, this woman, seemingly did. " _Okay, so what happened after defeating your aunt and cursing the mother of your child into being a wolf?"_

"Rebekah left, with both her bodies, presumably in search for a way to bring back our fallen brother, make good on her promise. Elijah stuck around, but only because he felt an obligation towards Hayley and Hope. Freya… she's proven to be a fresh breath of air. It's nice to have a sibling who doesn't judge."

" _And you've spent the last two months with Hope?"_

"Of course."

" _And nothing else? Nobody else?"_

Klaus smiled at that. "Why would I want to do that when I can go and see you?" He shifted when he heard some movement behind the door and watched the door open. He got to his feet and looked at the woman. She had tearstained eyes, bruising around her neck and she was wearing a torn onesie.

"I don't want you to see me like this, Klaus," she whispered, her eyes downcast. "This is not the person you like."

"But I do," he said tenderly as he pushed back her hair and observed the bruising. "My pocket sized warrior princess," he smiled proudly at her before kissing the top of her head. "Allow me to give you some of my blood, love," he said as he slowly walked inside the room. "There is no reason for you to physically ache."

Elijah blinked when the door closed and looked at Freya, who had a soft look on her face.

" _Come," Klaus' voice sounded. "I'll even draw you a bath."_

" _I told you I don't need you to be the hero."_

" _But I'm not. I'm merely someone who helps you to take care of yourself. You're the hero. I already told you that. I think that even Rebekah would be impressed by the bruising you left on that tosser's face."_

Elijah didn't want to go, but Freya tugged him along to the fire escape exit. It was surreal to hear his brother talk the way he was doing to that woman. Of course, he was gentle with Hope, but he had so many questions in his mind that it was spinning.

When they were a safe distance away from the club, Freya decloaked them, and she started to walk back to the compound. "Débauche is the hottest thing in town, so I've heard. It's run by an amazing woman, who decided to set up a women's shelter right on top of it. And not just an ordinary shelter at that. That woman Klaus talked to? She has some supernatural issues and is living there."

"But how?"

"Surely you notice a pattern with your brother," she said with a chuckle. "Whenever someone gets treated wrongly, he jumps in to save them."

"No, he doesn't."

"Oh no? What about Marcel?" Freya countered. "On top of that, like yourself, Klaus always treats women with respect, mostly. Until, of course, they prove that they're complete idiots. The manager of that bar? She was also saved by Klaus."

"For how long has this been going on?"

"I don't know; I didn't ask. A very long time, I think. Klaus has everything under control in there. The best security there is, modern and magical, considering it is such a huge building and the type of abusers the women seek shelter from."

Elijah was quiet as he tried to process this new information.

"You've got some answers. Do with this information as you see fit, but please, Elijah, don't take this away from Klaus too. He's good at this kind of stuff, and it's nice to see him do something like this. To try to make something right by using his resources and his own experiences."

"I would never-"

"You probably don't mean to, but you have. Just like Klaus has done to you. You two don't notice it, but you like to scupper each other's plans and lives as if it's nothing," Freya countered as she looked at her brother. "Stop ruining each other's lives. Your animosity will be your undoing one day."


	4. Thirst

When Bella's bruises faded while she rested with some of his blood inside of her, Klaus quietly made his way out of the apartment and headed to Myriam, anger once again rising inside of him.

The wanker who hurt his Bella was no longer inside the security office, which was good, as Klaus would have killed him. He walked into the office and was met with a bright smile that was on Myriam's face.

"How could you be smiling right now?" He demanded as he nearly slammed the door out if its hinges. "One of your girls was just assaulted! Bella!"

"I know," she simply stated as she met his eyes. "Despite every security measure it still happened. This was a one in a million chance."

"You're not even remotely concerned?"

"Of course I am!" Myriam shot back as she rounded her desk to approach him. "I called you, didn't I?"

Klaus growled as he pushed Myriam against the nearest wall. Myriam let out a cry of delight as she put her arms around his neck. "Sometimes I wonder if you truly care about your girls, even those you're keeping safe."

"Bella knows the risks, Klaus," she rolled her eyes at him. "Especially since security can't hear her thoughts."

"Cameras."

"Please," she huffed.

"Voice activated cameras, then."

"No, we've been over this a long time ago, you're just acting like this because it's a girl you like. Her mind is a fortress. She's crazy as fuck. You've never had a problem with her working before and on top of that, I'm not forcing her."

"I don't have a problem with her working, I have a problem with assholes!"

Myriam slapped him. "You're having a problem with yourself then," she said as she poked him in his chest. "And you promised to let me run the club. I already agreed to everything you suggested, but apart from the cameras in the public places, everything that happens behind closed doors, stay that way. Why have cameras when we can read the girls? I'm not going to install cameras just because one girl can't be read."

"You are. Don't make me make you."

"I will have your balls if you'll make me," she threatened. "Just for your information, we took some pictures of him in our strip club, then tossed him out and took pictures of that as well before forwarding those to the press. They'll spin their usual story about him and we get free press."

"I would have killed him."

"I also told him to never come back, get cleaned up and make a huge donation to the local women's shelter." She then grinned. "He'll think that he lost his manhood when he sobers up. At least for a couple days or so."

"I still would have killed him," he muttered before angrily kissing her.

Myriam jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist as she returned his kiss. She could understand Klaus' anger, and if she didn't have a business to run - if Luke Harris had been an ordinary John - she would have killed the asshole herself. Nobody laid a hand on her girls like that.

She dug her hands into his hair and scraped his scalp with her nails as she broke off the kiss. "What's the status of your cock, Klaus? Has it had any playtime lately?" She said in a low voice, watching his face. His eyes darkened as the expression on his face softened. "Do you want to play?" She teased him.

"I have no time for this," he said playfully as he put his forehead against hers as his hand ran up the inside of her leg, scooting up the skirt of her dress. "But you could come home with me?"

"Screw you, you and I both know you never take me places for both our safeties," she said as she put her hand between them and undid his zipper. "Fuck me. Now."

He pulled her away from the wall and walked them over to her desk, kissing her neck, scraping his teeth over her skin as he set her down on top of it. Myriam cleared most of her desk with one swoop, lucky that her laptop didn't fall, but the rest of the knicknacks were now scattered underneath them.

She laughed as she pulled him down with her with one hand and the other opening his pants so he wouldn't have too much friction. "Oh, I knew you'd see reason."

"I aim to please," Klaus kissed her, hard, as his pants fell to the floor. "You should have called sooner," he could feel her wetness on his hand as he had put his hand between her and her knickers. The heat radiating from her body was welcoming him back as if he'd returned to a warm home after having been away for far too long.

Maybe he had been, but after Freya had followed him, he could not possibly guarantee the safety of the girls. He wanted them away from his family, stay hidden in plain sight and luckily, Freya understood. She'd never tell Elijah about Débauche and what truly was going on.

Myriam whacked him on the shoulder with her fist. "You're wandering off, how about you fuck me? I'm drying up here."

He snickered at that. "Hardly, love," he withdrew his hand and tore her panties before guiding himself towards her entrance and pushed in, only letting out a breath when he was completely inside of her.

"Shame, no foreplay this time," Myriam complained as she looked at him with a cocky smile on her lips. "Next time, you're going to devour me like you used to."

"I am?" Klaus started to thrust as he licked along the vein in her neck.

"Yes. You just promised," she let out a moan when one of his hands had managed to get underneath her dress and had cupped her breast. "You're the only one I fuck."

"Fuck with," he said as he rubbed her nipple with his thumb.

"I fuck with everyone. I only fuck you. There is a difference," she let out a moan when he hit a sensitive spot inside of her. "A girl has her needs." She growled as she dug her nails into his back, drawing blood. "Harder."

"Oh my God!" Autumn exclaimed after she opened the door. "In your office?! You knew I was going to come by to have a look at your laptop!"

"And you still don't know how to knock!" Myriam looked over Klaus' shoulder right at the woman's face. "Leave!"

Autumn hesitated for a moment. "Can't I join you guys?" She asked cockily and tilted her head to look at the amazing ass that was facing her. "I'd so tap that ass."

Myriam dug her nails even deeper into Klaus' back as she could feel him tense up. While he was quite the exhibitionist, this was unwelcome. Even for him, but she needed to keep him with her so that he wouldn't snap the human's neck. "Oh, _Nique ta Mere!_ Leave us!" She demanded.

"I'm sorry," Autumn quickly said before shutting the door.

Myriam then cupped Klaus' chin and made him look at her. "You forgot to lock the door."

"In my defense, I hadn't anticipated such a rendezvous."

"Always anticipate this. Now make me come."

~o.O.o~

He had promised Freya that he'd leave it alone, but the mere thought of having seen his brother so… vulnerable - if that was even the right word for it - had kept him awake all night. To know that his brother showed remorse about what he had done, in his attempt to talk his actions right to the woman on the other side of that door, was oddly satisfying.

And frightening.

Elijah could not help but think that there must be something else behind his brother's behaviour. Granted, when he assured that he had the sole custody of his daughter, he had changed. Mellowed out, somewhat. Everything revolved around Hope.

However, he had believed his brother's softness and protectiveness towards his daughter had been nothing but the protection of power. The admiration of the potential his daughter had. His brother's obsession with power, the ability to dominate everything and everyone came full circle. Why want more, when you are the father of quite possibly the most powerful being on this Earth?

Yes, it was family above everything. It had been that way for centuries and despite their differences, they always came back to each other. Niklaus had been the strongest, the fastest and the most deadliest of them all. And now the monster had a daughter. It was frightening, really.

He always believed that his brother's notion of love was loyalty and nothing more. Maybe it was. Loyalty and curiosity. A desperation, a means to not feel alone. Perhaps Niklaus once possessed the ability to love many years ago, but that feeling, that experience, got lost along the years they lived. Elijah never believed that his brother could stumble upon something deeper, until he saw him patiently sitting against that door, talking to a woman who didn't want to face him.

Elijah was well aware of all of his flaws, one of them being that he liked to examine something he found intriguing and he was never good at keeping that bottled down. He was going to find out everything he could about Débauche, and his brother's involvement. Freya didn't want to talk about it, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to turn every stone for information. No matter the outcome. Surely something left in his brother's hands was on the brink of crumbling?

Knowing where find his first source of information, Elijah picked up coffee and breakfast on his way to St. Anne's Church. Now that his brother had allowed Marcel back into the city and had actually given the control back to him as well, Marcel had transformed the church into a gym, a fight club, for his newest vampires. To test them. To train them. And of course, for personal gain; letting off some steam.

Elijah had helped Marcel with setting it up, as he believed it was a great idea, and had used it himself a couple of times - in order for Elijah to be around his brother, he needed to take out his anger on _someone_.

"Elijah!" Marcel greeted him with that big smile of his. "Kinda early, isn't it?"

"Good morning, Marcel," Elijah spoke calmly and held up the coffee. "I brought you breakfast."

While Marcel gratefully took the coffee and showed Elijah to a couple of chairs, he knew that this wasn't simply 'breakfast'. "What can I do for you, Elijah?"

Elijah appreciated it that he didn't beat around the bush, it made things less tedious. "You and Niklaus, you were as thick as thieves in the past. At some occasions, you still are."

"Much like yourself, Elijah."

"Of course, but my relationship with my brother is entirely different from the one he has with you. He taught you everything he knows, did he not?" He asked with an amused smile, taking a sip of the chain-coffee and tried his hardest not to wince at the taste.

The vampire had an amused smile on his face as he, too, took a sip of his coffee. "I doubt that, but what do you want to know?"

"Have you ever been to Débauche, that strip club?" he asked carefully before seeing the expression on Marcel's face change. "What?"

"Why are you asking about Débauche?"

"I'm merely trying to satisfy my curiosity, Marcel," he replied as he retrieved a newspaper clipping out of his pocket. "This caught my eye, I thought I'd see what it was all about."

"The A-Squad?" Marcel laughed and shook his head. "Man, clubs like that are so corny! Couldn't they have thought of something more original to promote their shows? There's a reason why I tend to go somewhere else, where there's more excitement!"

"You know more about the city than my brother and I do, what kind of people go there?"

"I don't know. I've been there once, and it was shit. Seriously, Elijah, don't go there. Even my vampires don't go there."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not the best thing there is. This clipping is nothing but bought PR, I mean, look at that picture. It's as if someone gave Hope scissors, glue and a thick marker and decided to use that as their advertisement," he said with a chuckle. "If you want to get your rocks off, go to The Phenomenon near the Air Base or Nadia's in Lakeview."

Elijah thought for a moment and sat back on his chair. Marcel was far too deflecting, too passionate, about his dislike for the club. "Interesting."

"What?"

"Both establishments are as far away as possible from the location of Débauche. Surely there's something like that here in the Quarter so I won't have to go out of my way to be entertained like that?"

"No."

Marcel's responses had been too quick, too calculated and too rehearsed for Elijah's liking. It made sense that if Niklaus was truly hiding something, and Marcel had stumbled upon it - as Marcel liked to do - his brother would have compelled Marcel to run in the opposite direction. "Tell me, Marcel, did my brother ever compel you?"

"He doesn't have to."

"Alright, well," he got to his feet and set his cup of coffee down. "I suppose I have plans for tonight. I'll be going to Débauche."

"Are you nuts?!" Marcel stopped him from leaving. "You're not going there."

"I believe that I am. I'm due for a night out in town. Would you like to join me?" Elijah said, entertained by the sloppy compulsion. Whatever it was, his brother obviously never took the time to expertly compel Marcel for whatever he discovered.

"I will never set foot in that dump again. I'd gladly paint the town red with you, Elijah, but not there."

Elijah brushed Marcel's hand off his shoulder. "Noted," he said calmly. "Have a good day, Marcel. You've been very helpful."

~o.O.o~

She had been a little disappointed when she awoke and didn't find Klaus waiting for her. He never stuck around and she was conflicted about that. A part of her always wanted him to stick around, another part of her didn't. And hadn't it been for the hiccup last night, they'd probably have had some good sex too!

Bella dragged herself out of bed and went to the bathroom to fill up a bath for herself. Today was a new day. She was feeling a lot better and it was time to try again. She was quite sure that the attention Klaus had given her - and his blood, had something to do with her good mood. She was capable of doing everything, and she was going to do just that.

But first, a well deserved soak in the bath. Just like last night. Although this time she was going to extend her cleaning regimen. While she had quickly cleaned up last night, she was now going to take her time. She hadn't done anything for days and it made her feel icky. She also needed to do something with her hair, maybe a few strands of color would make her feel better. She hated it when she was in a funk. And she hated it even more that it took an assault and the attentions of her friend to get her out of it.

She was doing better, however. She'd been living above the club for two years now and she liked it how things had settled down. No more running. She was now simply hiding. Maybe she got depressed every now and then because her life was missing something. Was she secretly missing the running that she had done? All across the world, for five whole years, while the Cullens and Victoria were on her trail.

There had been quite a few times where she'd simply given up, allowing her pursuers come incredibly close, but there was always something that kept her going. It had been easy to uproot her life after her mother told her to run. There was nothing for her left in Forks but misery and she ran. When they thought that killing her mother would have her return to them, she kept running. Her mother had wanted her to be safe, and she'd do anything to stay that way.

Bella was in Morocco when she heard of a safe haven in for women who were being pursued and abused by supernatural beings. This lead her to follow a few breadcrumbs here and there, taking her to Indonesia and Greece, before hearing that it was in America. It took her almost six months to find it in New Orleans and she'd been hiding out ever since.

And she felt comfortable. And in a way, she had the Cold Ones to thank for it because hadn't it been for them, she wouldn't have to find other means of getting money - she couldn't stay in one place for too long to work in case they were on to her - and selling sex had been the best way. It hadn't always been safe. But now it was.

What happened last night was just a tiny hiccup.

Drying herself off, she walked towards her music set and turned on the radio as she continued to dry her hair with the towel. She felt cleansed and clean. Both were very good.

By the time she was dressed - tight jeans and a crop top as it was still quite early, she was singing along loudly with the music coming out of her little set. Wouldn't it have been great if she was a real tiger or a lion and could actually roar as loud as she wanted?

It was a good thing that the rooms were so well isolated though, Bella knew she couldn't hold a tune but didn't have it stop her from singing. Most girls would wake up well after the afternoon, even if they didn't work. There was a skeleton crew working at the bar and club - mostly the cleaners and the managers, as they wouldn't open until three or four.

She peeked into her cupboards and fridge but didn't find anything edible so she was going to have to raid the communal kitchen for food. Which was fine, it was why it was there so that people like Bella didn't have to go outside and possibly run into the very person, or persons, they were hiding from. Occasionally, when she really craved something that wasn't in the well-stocked kitchen, she'd ask Myriam or any of the girls who didn't live on the premises. Because even though it was truly disgusting, sometimes a Big Burger was the thing she needed.

She took one of her bags and left her apartment to cross the space to the kitchen, where she bumped into Ashley, a member of the A-Squad and apparently always in the building. Bella knew who they truly were as part of Myriam's all inclusion deal with Bella. They were the main attraction to the club, sure, but in fact, they lead completely different lives. They weren't normal.

"Shall we spar? The gym is free," Ashley smiled at Bella as she opened a bottle of water. "Work out a little."

"I just took a nice bath and cleaned myself up, I don't want to become sweaty again," she replied as she opened the pantry and was greeted by Ferrero Rocher by the buckets. "Oh, Christmas has come early!"

"It's a miracle with the amount that you eat, and mostly shitty food as well, that you have the body that you have," she slapped her flat stomach and smirked when her abs weren't moving. "Hard work, this."

"You know better than trying to make me jealous, it won't work," Bella said as she threw some chocolate in her bag, followed by a few bags of chips. She reluctantly went over to the healthy stuff to fill up her bag and waved at Ashley. "Have fun, I have a date with Ferrero and Rocher."

"Oh, Miss Bella?"

Bella turned around when she heard her name to face the person wanting her attention. It was Emma, one of the humans Myriam employed for their blood and assistance in other things that didn't directly involve the club.

"Miss Myriam requested your presence in her office."

"I'll be down soon, I need to put away my things," Bella acknowledged as she opened the door to her apartment. "Thank you, Emma."


	5. Torn

_**A/N:** Oh dear. Those reviews on the last chapter! I absolutely HATE Author's Notes, but I felt like I had to defend myself and my story. Ew. I'm turning in one of "those" people._

 _First off; this is MY story and I decided to share it with you. I don't care if you don't agree with my choices in this story, but I'm writing it. Not you. If you want instant gratification with two people hooking up within the first few chapters, then this is not your story to read. Go write your own or find a different author to read. And no, complaining that you do not like the way that I write my story is not going to change the way that I write. My story. My words._

 _Secondly… well… secondly, there were about 1000 words here where I answered some of the reviews and I thought that was too much. The bottom line is though:_

 _Bella, Klaus and Myriam are CONSENTING ADULTS and they're in a NON-COMMITTED relationship. Débauche is a brothel/stripclub/bar. Klaus and Bella are friends. Yes, this is a Klaus/Bella story, but this is not a 1+1=2 story. Things take time._

 _Also; I'm not holding you hostage and making you read my words. So if this story is too difficult for you to understand or to read, get out._

 _For a longer explanation, visit my website buggyfiction dot com. I'll post it as a blog post. Let's continue the discussion there, shall we?_

 _x Buggy_

* * *

Elijah used his influence to get information about the club at the cadastre and recorder of deeds. The history of the building, who owned it and what kind of modifications had been made. Maybe his brother would appreciate it if the building was family owned. The only reason he was allowed to walk in without an invitation was that it was a public space when he went there with Freya and with rules and ownership always changing when it came to these kind of establishments, maybe it was better to have it in the family - if, what Freya said was true about the happenings on the top level.

Of course, it had crossed his mind that this was an elaborate ruse. To get Elijah interested in something because his brother was involved, to not see the entire picture or simply to keep him busy and having him to stop fussing when it came to Hope. It could very well be a cleverly performed trick by his very clever and easily jealous brother. But if this was the case, would their sister Freya have cooperated as willingly as she had, or was she just as devious as his brother?

Deciding that no one was playing a trick on him, he started to look at the papers. The building had been remodeled several times over the last few decades, with the most drastic one in the eighties when they included another building and built another story on top of it. How had this been possible? The French Quarter was a National Landmark, things like these simply couldn't happen 'just like that'. Perhaps this had been possible as the club was situated right on the edge of it, but still, it was curious. There was no paper trail whatsoever and whoever acquired the necessary permissions to remodel it in such a rigorous way, must have had some pull.

The first floor was more or less obvious, although should an inspector come by to make sure they're up to code, he'd surely notice that the area on the left, behind the guest bathrooms, wasn't a beauty parlor. Elijah believed it was where the offices were situated, and perhaps a staffroom.

The second floor had eight hotelroom sized rooms, and two master suite rooms that were three times the size of the others. This was undoubtedly the area where things happened in private; dancing or maybe even more than that. Most certainly more than that. While the plans didn't say anything about a small cubicle near the stairs, he had seen it. It had been filled with two members of staff, security.

As shown on the plans, he found the lack of cameras disturbing. Sure, there were a handful, but if you ran an establishment where women were allowing themselves to be vulnerable, surely you'd have more visible security for them? Or was there something else in play?

The third floor was nothing like he had seen with his own eyes. According to the plans, there were a few criss-cross rooms. It was messy and unhinged, unlike the careful planning that went with what he had experienced. He knew there was a large area near the concealed stairs, there were at least three big apartments or rooms and a kitchen area. Why was it obscured on the plans? To keep refugees safe? Likely.

Pursing his lips, he casually flipped the papers to see who owned the building so that he could find that person, give him or her an offer they can't refuse and purchase it in his name.

Elijah was surprised to see that his brother Niklaus already bought the building - under one of his aliases. "Generous anonymous donor, indeed," he muttered to himself.

~o.O.o~

Bella made her way down the stairs and slipped out of the lounge before greeting some early birds making their way to the bar area. They looked like businessmen ready to do some business and perhaps some fun later. Giddy, she made her way through the secure door, passed Frank and Mark who were on security duty - more would come later, but since it was still early, it wasn't really needed for the entire force to be present - and knocked on Myriam's door before slipping inside.

The room smelled of sex.

No matter how well the airconditioning worked or how wide the vampire had opened the window, it still smelled of sex. And of Klaus. Klaus' spunk. Klaus and his wonderful hands. His tongue. His cock. They had been all over Myriam and it was getting harder and harder to fight the jealousy, because Bella wasn't a jealous person. Not at all. She didn't even want to claim Klaus as hers because he wasn't. And she wasn't ready for a boyfriend or whatever, because they'd only mess with her jam. Her own beat.

"You wished to see me?" She chose to ignore all that she saw, all that she smelled. The ghosts that lingered. The ghost that she wanted to feel inside of her.

"Yes," Myriam smiled at her. "I am glad to see that you're doing alright after last night."

"Water under the bridge. Or over it. Or turning into wine," Bella said, waving her hand around. "Whatever."

Myriam sighed. Bella was always good at making herself appear stronger than she was but she saw right through her. They hadn't had a serious incident with a client in a very long time, mainly because of the safety they had put in place, but Bella was special, her mind couldn't be read. They should have thought of something else for her to make her more secure. A panic button.

Not a huge bulky one, it had to look ordinary and small enough to carry around or place somewhere else.

But, until that was in play, Myriam was going to make sure that Bella was staying occupied with other things.

"I thought that maybe you could double check the numbers for me," Myriam said as she got up from her chair and motioned for Bella to sit down. "And then, perhaps, take the stock inventory list and check the bar stock for me? While it's great that we have a new bar manager and all, we still need to keep an eye on our stock. I have the feeling that we're still losing a lot of bottles or he and his staff are giving alcohol away for free."

"I wasn't really planning on _working_ today," Bella replied as she sat down on Myriam's chair and opened the spreadsheets to check them over with the loose papers that were on the desk. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a nap," she smirked as she opened the door. "Only wake me when there's something you can't handle."

"Bitch," Bella muttered.

"I heard that!"

"I know you did!" It was payback because Bella now had to work in an office smelling of sex. Klaus and Myriam sex. Yuck. The moment Myriam was out of the office, she opened the windows and loved the slight breeze that came through the openings.

Bella wasn't opposed to smelling sex. No. Not at all. Just not with the guy she actually liked. She never thought that she'd ever really like someone, someone she felt genuine deep feelings for, not after Edward, but there was Klaus. But admitting it out loud was a bit stupid, wasn't it? She felt like a vampire groupie while it was merely coincidence that both men were vampires - Klaus more human than Fuckward.

 _She_ wanted to have sex with Klaus. But she couldn't demand it, not like Myriam. She was grateful for Myriam calling him after what happened the day before, but he should come by on his own volition and he was obviously busy. With his family. With his daughter. Had he truly liked her in a way that she liked him, he would have come sooner, right?

Bella's play for today was to continue her maintenance, and then maybe see if there was a spot available at the strip club. She wanted to lose herself in the music - well, she could do that in her room as well, but getting dollar bills to donate back into Débauche was much more fun. The interaction was more fun and damnit, she was the master of her own body.

Jake Harris was a douche. She was stuck doing numbers.

It hadn't even been her responsibility to check the stock at the bar. Myriam always did it because she could do it in five minutes instead of a couple of hours like Bella had spent doing it. Myriam was punishing her for something, wasn't she?

Bella had dinner and then went downstairs to look at the schedule for the strip club. There was an opening at 9.20 pm to 9.30 pm, in the middle of a break between Demelza dancing and the A-Squad. Ten minutes. Thinking about it for a moment, she signed her name and then went to Bobby to ask him if she could waitress that night as well. It would involve tips and lapdances, and she just wanted to have fun. While Bobby was grateful for her offer, he was completely full on entertainment and apologized.

At least she could show everybody that she still had ownership of her own body, even if it was for only ten minutes. She was going to make it memorable.

~o.O.o~

He had wanted to see how she was doing, and much to his surprise, Myriam told him that she was on the call sheet to dance tonight. He didn't know whether to be proud of Bella - as she usually just kept going even on a bad day - or to be extremely cross with her - for the same reason. All he knew was that he had to be there to keep an eye on things.

Oh, yes, the club was well protected and had great security and now that she wasn't locked in a room with a client they could get to her when she needed it but he couldn't help but wanting to protect her. To make sure that nobody would yank her off that stage without her permission. If there was any yanking to be done, it was going to be him.

Klaus had spent the day with Hope, and realized that he had been neglecting his duties towards Myriam, and Bella. Granted, they were supposed to be a secret in case his enemies would try to get to him through them and maybe it wasn't so wise to frequent the club but he couldn't help himself. Myriam was a long time friend - with benefits - and Bella was this beautiful young woman who kept picking herself up after falling so hard. She was intriguing. She was beautiful and she was so stubborn.

He liked it.

He stopped having sex with Bella out of respect. He respected her as a woman and he feared that she saw him as a client, that the feelings weren't mutual, which is why he never stayed after they had sex. Couples lingered in bed, muttering sweet nothings to each other, not two people who are not committed to each other. That was not how he worked. But he wanted to whisper sweet nothings in Bella's ear. He wanted to fall asleep with her in his arms.

For a human, she was extremely comfortable around vampires. A level of comfort that even Camille didn't possess. Bella didn't seem to care that he could snap her neck with his pinkie finger if he wanted to. She was fearless. And also because of her history with the Cold Ones, he was afraid that that was the reason why things weren't mutual between them.

Then again, how did he know that things weren't mutual when they'd never even discussed their feelings?

It was silly, perhaps, to believe in true feelings such as love. Never in a million years he would have figured to feel something as pure and terrifying as what he felt for Bella. Granted, they had started out as acquaintances and were now good friends, but he wished for more. Being with Bella, imagining his life with her, melted away all the years of loneliness, even when he was supposedly in a relationship with someone.

Being with Bella made him realize that the past relationships had been nothing but immature infatuations. Lust. Jealousy. Or simply because he could. He was careful around Bella because he truly cared about her feelings, about her wellbeing and her state of mind. Granted, staying away for two months as he had hadn't been his best move.

Klaus never said he was a good friend. Or a good lover. Or a good anything. Loyal, yes. But true friendship? True feelings of affection? He had tried to discuss this with Camille, but she was under the impression that he wasn't capable of feeling this way, yet, he did.

He had even spoken to a witch to find out if something magical was at play - a spell of sorts, but she denied any magical involvement. His feelings were real. There was no magical bond and since she wasn't a vampire or a werewolf, there was no sire bond to speak of. Camille joked about Stockholm syndrome and perhaps she was right. Or not.

He had thought about it, long and hard and figured that maybe he should keep his feelings to himself. That should he allow himself to bring her into his life - completely, he was endangering Bella. That he was going to endanger himself as it would be yet another person someone could use to get to him and his family.

On top of that, what if she didn't want him? He didn't want to get hurt over this, either. It would be terrifying to put his true feelings out in the open and then have her crush it by denying him.

They didn't live in a Disney animated movie, there was no such thing as a happy ending for all. He didn't want her to get hurt any more than she already had. Perhaps it had been wrong to have taken a liking to her, but what if it hadn't been?

He hated to feel this conflicted.

Klaus straightened himself up at the other end of the room when Demelza left the stage. Demelza was an amazon, tall, gorgeous black hair and due to her athleticism she didn't require to be able to dance that much. Some guys liked that. He thought that some of her tricks were freaky - and that was saying something.

The A-squad were true entertainers. Killers, but entertainers none the less. They had a show. A story. To him, that was more exciting than Demelza, but not as exciting as seeing Bella perform. Oh, she was an awkward mover, but that's what made her so special. She wasn't even trying to put up a show, she was only having fun. And that was sexy.

For ten whole minutes he forgot to breathe as he watched how she moved and occasionally stumbled. How men were throwing money at her. Money that she'd hand over to Myriam after collecting it all. A shame, really, she should treat herself to things. Luxury. After having been on the run for so long, she deserved to splurge on unnecessary things with her own money, but she didn't. So Myriam donated the money back into Bella's secret bank account. Myriam kept her wages, but all her tips were donated into that account. Had Myriam paid Bella her wages, she would see that whenever she was fiddling with the numbers.

Security knew who he was, so he followed her backstage after she was done. "That was great, love," he said as he slipped next to her as she walked towards the staircase. She wasn't even lingering, she was heading straight to her apartment. "I always like seeing you dance."

"It's fun," Bella said as she looked up to him. "There's a bottle of Patrón waiting in my apartment, I don't mind sharing. I was planning on more fun by myself, but I suppose it's fine if you join me."

"I wanted to make sure you're alright, love," Klaus smiled at her as he followed her up the stairs. "I know you're alright physically."

"And mentally I'm fine too, Klaus," she replied with a sigh. "Seriously. It happened. It could have happened to anyone."

"But it happened to _you_."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I do. You know I do."

She was quiet until they reached her apartment. Letting him inside, she closed the door and headed straight for her bottle of tequila. "I don't know," she said as she took a gulp from the bottle and turned to look at him. "Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate all your help. I really do. And Myriam's, of course. But there are days where I wonder _why_ you care. No other girl in this place gets your attention like I do." She took another swig of the bottle.

Yeah, she might as well put it out there that she wanted more. That she was ready for more and if he wasn't willing to give it to her, she needed him to take his distance from her so that he wouldn't cramp her style. "What are your intentions? No offense, I like it when we have sex but it's the other things - you caring about me - that makes me think we're blurring the lines a little."

He watched her taking another sip from her bottle of tequila and sighed as he walked to the cupboard to take out his bottle of bourbon and a glass. As he poured, he quietly mulled over her words. She was right, of course. The thoughts had crossed his mind several times now. Even this evening.

There was nothing more that he wanted than to share his life with her. Everything. But that also meant putting her in harm's way - should she ever decide that it was safe for her to leave her shelter. She left on occassion, he knew that, but her entire world was in Débauche. She felt safe there, and sure, they could change their relationship, but what good would that do when he couldn't keep sneaking out like he had done before?

He wanted her at the compound. Keep her safe there, have her stop allowing other men to enjoy her body. Claim her as his and his alone. He was certain that she was strong enough to handle his siblings. But should she end up in the wrong hands, she could be used against him as a weakness and he wasn't weak.

And then there were of course Bella's own troubles, her nightmares, that were still haunting her. They were still around and while the compound was a fortress and well protected, the top level of Débauche was still a safer place for her.

"You're awfully quiet," Bella eyed him as she took another swig from her bottle.

"What do you want my intentions to be, love?" He asked quietly and took a sip of his bourbon.

"Don't turn it back on me, Klaus. I asked first."

"Why do you want to know?"

Bella let out a low growl as she took another sip of her tequila. Wasn't it obvious? She liked Klaus. She wanted him all to herself. She was ready for this. She was ready for someone to be in her life all the time. She hated it that her happiness was connected to the few times he showed up and the last two months had been horrifying. If he didn't see a future with them, then so be it. She was going to find someone else.

Klaus tiredly rubbed his face and sighed. What would Camille say about this? Man up, probably, but the thing was that he really wanted Bella in his life as his. Everything. But for safety purposes, this was impossible. He cared too much about this still so broken young woman. "You are an amazing woman, Bella. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with you, however, I cannot give you what you want. It's best if we keep the distance we've put between us."

She took another sip of the bottle, she was well in her way to be completely buzzed and her bravery was growing. "I'm nothing but a fun fuck to you? One you feel like coming to the rescue to because you don't want to lose it?"

No. "Yes."

Bella nodded and let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "Very well, this is good. We've discussed our feelings like mature adults and we know where we stand." She straightened her skirt and nodded again as if she needed to confirm things in her head. "Good, then I can go and flirt with the guy at the bookstore tomorrow. He's cute."

He looked at her in surprise. "You're going outside?"

"Yeah, with Alina. We both need new books to read and there's a new book out from this author I like," she said with a smile on her face and took another sip. "Flirting with the cute guy at the store is a bonus."

"What if I don't want you to flirt with him?"

"Tough, we're not together. If you want to fuck me, I want you to fork over the fee right now and I shall take you to one of the rooms. I do not fuck clients in my own apartment. If you don't want to fuck me, I want you to leave so I can get stupidly drunk and have fun by myself."


	6. Don't Panic

Bella would have loved going to the bookstore at Pirate's Alley but it was too far away and Alina didn't think it was a good idea to go deeper into the Quarter. She felt slightly bummed, because the hot guy worked at that store, but a bookstore was a bookstore. She didn't mind going one street over to get there.

"Aria actually said that if we wanted new books we could order them online," Alina grinned as she slipped her arm through Bella's and pulled her closer. "As if!"

"I'd rather get high on book fumes than use a machine to buy me a book," Bella nodded with a big smile on her face. "Besides, this is instant gratification. Why wait?"

"And any opportunity to get you out of the building is the right one. We should totally get something to eat at the little establishment next to the bookstore."

"Deal."

"Good, now that's out of the way, I want to talk to you about Klaus," Alina said as they continued to walk in the direction of the bookstore. "I passed him on the stairs last night, well, we all did, and he nearly shoved us over the railing. Did you upset him or something?"

Bella shrugged. "We had a truthful, adult, conversation, that's all."

"Did you break up with him?"

"We weren't even together!" Bella cried out and sighed. "I don't know, for the first time in seven years I actually think I'm ready to… you know, rebuild my life. Yes, they're still out there, but you have to start somewhere, right? I asked him what his intentions were with me and it was obvious that I'm nothing but a fun, free, fuck to him."

"Oh come on, he obviously cares about you, like more than just tolerating you."

"Perhaps, but he made it quite clear yesterday that he's not interested in more. Now I know that I don't have to sit around and waiting for things to happen. He can get his free fucks with Myriam. I'm moving on. If he wants to have sex with me, he'll have to do that on a day where I'm working, on my terms, and he has to bring money," she then sighed and looked at Alina. "I wanted to flirt with that cute guy from the other bookstore today, but you had other plans."

"Yep, but good on you for moving on. Just give us a heads up next time when you hurt his feelings so we don't use the same stairs he does," Alina grinned and high fived Bella. "I'm proud of you."

"Eh," she shrugged. "I realized in his absence the last two months that I rely too much on him for my happiness anyway. I need to rely on myself for my happiness."

"Hell yeah!" Alina cheered. "We're so going to buy you a new set of underwear to celebrate!"

Bella snorted and shook her head as they walked into the bookstore and after making sure that she wasn't standing in the way of everyone, she paused for a moment and took a deep breath to breathe in the crispness of new books. The store smelled of fresh ink, rigid papers and purity. Yes, purity had a smell. It was clinical, sort of like a hospital but without the detergent. Every single book in the store was new, every book a new adventure to lose herself in. Every book ready to be mangled and thrown across the room when something unexpected or unwanted happened in the story.

She and Alina spent about an hour in the store before going for something to eat and Bella allowed herself to enjoy herself, without fear. She'd been in New Orleans for two years now. It was quiet. She couldn't be found and she was safe. Even on the streets, now. Alina was former military and a member of the feared A-Squad. Safe.

The last time she'd been outside - aside from lounging on the balcony or roof of Débauche - was months ago and she thought she saw something on every corner. It had been a nightmare. But she felt pretty good about herself. This was her life. She was taking it back. She didn't need Klaus for this. She'd been without him for 5 years prior to coming to New Orleans and she'd done just fine for herself.

She just about devoured the Po-Boy and the beignet, much to Alina's delight. "That's going to play up later, you know."

"I have a good, healthy digestive system," Bella countered playfully and paid for their food, but not before taking a Po-Boy on the go to take back to Débauche. "Lingerie shopping next!"

Alina squealed as they walked away from the restaurant and then halted when she got a text from Autumn _and_ Aria. ' _911\. NOW.'_ This meant trouble. Alina loved trouble. They'd gotten a bit too at ease since Myriam started to pay for their services only to make sure that they wouldn't go after one of the girls she was sheltering at the time. But trouble sounded good. "Rain check, I've been called back. Unless you want to roam around on your own?"

Bella sighed, disappointed that her time outside the building had to end this soon, but she wasn't going to walk around all by herself. Not yet. "I'll come back with you."

~o.O.o~

When you've lived as long as she had, you'd pick up extra abilities, gifts, on the way to make sure that you wouldn't fall for the same thing twice. Or thrice. Or other times. A business woman like herself needed to keep an eye out for new businesses popping up, businesses that could hamper the success of her business or be a threat to other businesses.

Imagine her surprise when this new business swooped into town and bought up some land in the Bayou. In the Bayou; the most beautiful place of New Orleans where, back in the day, she rid herself of dead bodies by burying them deep in the ground. She wasn't the only vampire doing so, and certainly not the last. It was also home to the Crescent wolves, recently recursed thanks to the efforts of one Niklaus Mikaelson but it was still their home.

And it pissed Myriam off that someone was taking away the homes of the wolves. She was going to find out who was the head of Kingmaker and she was going to tell them to leave. Those wolves had been through enough and she wanted to make sure that they would have a home to come back to should someone find it in their hearts to remove the curse again.

 _However_ , she had more pressing matters to deal with right now. She was watching the security feed on her computer and saw Elijah fucking Mikaelson walk into the bar area. She was surprised it had taken him decades to find Débauche - which had likely something to do with the Mikaelsons being absent from New Orleans for a century, but his presence now didn't please her at all.

Didn't he have better things to do? Such as polishing the sticks that were shoved up his ass on a regular basis? Or the marbles in his mouth, maybe? Or fluff the feathers that were sticking out of his ass like a peacock?

Granted, most of her disdain towards the man were due to stories that Niklaus had told her about his family and some of her own observations in passing, but he was just sitting there. He had ordered a bourbon and was casually, but systematically, casing the place.

She'd been sitting there, watching, for an hour with her head of security with her and some of the A-squad ready to throw him out of the bar and Myriam wasn't quite sure what to do other than to stare in disbelief. Usually she was quick to make up her mind, but THE Elijah Mikaelson had found her club. She was screwed.

Klaus had a habit of putting his nose in places where it didn't belong, but Elijah was worse. Sure, there was the slight chance that Elijah stumbled into the club by complete accident, but a part of her told her that this wasn't the case. And she knew what she had to do. " _Merde_ ," she muttered to herself, pushing her chair back and got to her feet. "I'm going to see what he's up to. Maybe it's nothing to be concerned about."

"It's Elijah Mikaelson, I think you should be a little concerned," Aria said as she looked at her boss. "When Alina's back, I'll send her and Autumn to do some information gathering, see what his last moves were before coming here."

"Alina's been back for at least half an hour now," her chief of security spoke up knowingly. "Her mind was quite loud when she and Bella returned from their shopping; mostly with unfinished shopping business to do and something about Klaus Mikaelson."

Myriam nodded towards Aria. "Send them," she said before snapping her head towards him. "What about Klaus?" She wasn't proud of this, really, but she liked to keep her girls - the ones in hiding or not - happy. Sometimes she had to rely on her mind readers to find out what was going on in her girls' lives. If Alina was thinking about Klaus, then she and Bella must have had a conversation about him.

"He was acting a bit weird last night after we got off the stage," Aria piped up. "Nearly pushed us all off the stairs. He was quite… _emotional_."

"Interesting, seeing as he was with Bella," Myriam sighed and shook her head. "No, one crisis at the time. I'm going to see Mr. Elijah Mikaelson and then I'll find out what went on between his brother and our girl." She quickly checked herself over in the mirror before leaving her office and went through the security door leading to the hallway. She could smell him in the hall, clean but with a hint of blood underneath it. He must recently have fed - or killed someone.

She ignored him as she walked to the bar and ordered herself a red wine before turning and leaning against the surface and eyed the people in the bar. It was the regular crowd at this time of day; merely people trying to work or drowning their sorrows. The party wouldn't start for another few hours and they would all leave soon, to their spouses, to their lives, while the rougher crowd would move in.

Her eyes then settled on Elijah, and smiled a little as she caught him looking at her in return. Taking her glass, she made her way over to him and stretched out her hand for him to shake. "Mr. Mikaelson, such an honor to have you in my establishment."

He rose to his feet and shook her hand, gently. His brother was all over her, which was strange, considering she did not look like his type at all. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage, you know my name, but I'm yet to know yours." She did look vaguely familiar, why was that?

"Myriam Jenkins," she replied with a kind smile and pointed to the empty chair. "May I?"

"Please," he said, gesturing to the chair as he sat back down. "Have we met?"

Myriam took a sip of her wine after sitting down and looked at him. "If you have to ask that question, then you already know the answer."

"You look familiar, that's all."

"Uhuh," she said, still eyeing him. "What brings a distinguished man as yourself to a place like Débauche?"

Elijah let out a breath and an amused smile formed on his face. "Can't a man like myself simply go out for a drink?"

"All by himself?"

"Of course. I've been known for my whimsical ways," he replied amused.

"You see, I find there's a problem with that. Your reputation precedes you. Mr. Elijah Mikaelson doesn't do things on a whim, he's a well calculated man and is detached, unless it concerns his family."

"Very well, I see you're a woman who likes to get straight to the point."

"Especially when any member of the Original family crosses the threshold of my domain, yes."

"It's a public space," Elijah mused. "But let me assure you that I have no intention of harming you or anyone in this building. I have done some research and it appears that you have been managing this place all by yourself for quite some time."

"I have."

"And when you were struggling, an anonymous donor helped you out."

"That was decades ago," Myriam was wondering where he was getting at with this. She figured that he already knew what was going on, and that his brother was involved. If that was the case, she was going to have to find herself a witch that was powerful enough to mess with an Original's mind. She was not going to allow Elijah access to her girls like Klaus had. One Original in her life was more than enough.

"It wasn't an anonymous donor, I checked the records myself. It seems that my brother is involved with you and this place. I can practically smell him on you and in every corner of this building." Elijah then leaned forward and looked her in her eyes. "Tell me, who are you to my brother Niklaus and who is he to you?"

Myriam stifled a laugh and took a sip of her wine. "Mr. Mikaelson, there's no point in trying to compel me or anyone of my staff - or patrons, for that matter. We're all on vervain. It's such a wonderful tool once you've built up a tolerance for it, don't you think?"

"He sired you."

"Perhaps," she said with a shrug. "Now, what do you want?"

"I would like to offer my services, my connections, for you to continue to do what you've been doing for certain members of our society."

She was taken aback by that. How would he know? Klaus would never tell, but what about Freya? If that bitch betrayed her, then she was going to be killed. The A-Squad was still in her pocket! She would never be able to get close to Freya herself, the girl was a formidable - and old - witch. Myriam knew what battles she could fight on her own and which she couldn't. "What do you mean by that?"

"I know about the top level of your establishment and I find that admirable. More often than not, innocent humans fall victim to our community and I think it's a marvelous idea to give them shelter and help them to get back on their feet. I wish to help."

"Get out," Myriam said as she pointed to the exit.

"Ms. Jenkins, please. I am sure that we could arrange something mutually beneficial between us. With my help, you could open more safe havens like this across the United States and-"

"Get. Out." Myriam rose to her feet, still pointing towards the exit. "I appreciate you being forward with me but you are crossing lines that shouldn't be crossed. Get out or I'll have you removed."

Sighing, Elijah calmly finished his drink while the vampire across him started to enrage even further. He was amused by this. The woman obviously cared about her establishment and about what she had accomplished - with some help from Niklaus, of course. It also worried him, as it was likely that he was going to have to deal with the wrath of the hybrid the moment he set foot inside the compound again. There was no doubt that the woman would be on the phone to him the moment he left the club.

He got to his feet, straightened himself up and nodded. "Very well. Perhaps we could have a friendly discussion about this some other time."

"We shall not discuss this some other time, Mr. Mikaelson," she snapped at him. " _Ta mere suce le penis d'animaux pour l'argent. Casse-Toi."_

"Actually, she has," Elijah said with an amused smile. "My brother Niklaus is the proof of that."

"Out!" she watched him march out of the bar and followed him so she could watch him get out of the front door as well before she turned to the doorman. "He is not allowed back in!"

"Yes, Ms. Jenkins," the man said with a nod.

She growled as she looked at him and then walked back into her office, where Aria was waiting for her with an amused smile on her face. "What?" She demanded.

"I don't know what has been said in the bar, but you like him."

Myriam stared at the woman from her position at the door.

"Oh, come on, boss. It's obvious. He did something to push your buttons and you haven't felt like you're feeling right now in years. I don't need to be a mindreader to see that. Body language and all. Hell, Ace would probably say that you two were practically eye fucking each other."

"Out." She enunciated slowly, her voice low and deadly; her eyes narrowing on the girl as her patience was quickly dissolving.

Aria snorted. "Sure thing, boss. We'll retrace Mr. Mikaelson's steps and see what he's up to." she moved around her boss and through the door, closing the door behind her.

Myriam took a few deep breaths before taking her phone and dialling Klaus' number.

" _Darling!"_

" _Morceau de merde_!" Myriam exclaimed angrily as she kicked against her chair, sending it flying across the space. For once she was lucky that all the windows were bulletproof and did not easily shatter as it hit the window. "Do something about your brother!"

" _Excuse me?"_

"Your brother… well, the one who's still breathing - for now - was just here. Mr. GQ-wannabe knew exactly what's going on in here and proposed that he and I should work together to franchise Débauche to help others across the States. He seemed to be pretty sure of himself that this was going to happen."

" _What?"_ Klaus' voice sounded. " _To be fair, I've often told you to do that myself."_

"And I have always told you 'no'! And are you even fucking listening? Your brother. Was here. He found us. My girls are at risk now, Nik. Do something about it or I will!" She disconnected the call, moved to the chair and put it upright before dialling Klaus again. "And you and I need to have a little chat about your behaviour! How dare you shoving girls off the stairs!"

" _Love, you need to calm down."_

"Oh, don't you tell me what to do, Niklaus Mikaelson, or the next time you're in my office, I will sever your balls and your cock from your body and will throw them in the meat grinder."

Klaus laughed at that.

"You fucker! What happened between you and Bella last night?"

" _That's between me and our girl, love."_

"Bullshit."

" _You shouldn't worry about her, love. Everything is alright. Go and talk to her."_

"I doubt everything is alright, I want to know what happened."

" _Talk to her, not me. She's your protégé."_

"Fucker." Myriam disconnected the call for the last time and threw her phone across her office. However, unlike the chair and the window, it wasn't built to deal with vampire strength and it shattered in a million pieces. At least, until she got herself a new phone, it would be quieter in her life for awhile. Everyone knew her office number anyway.

And yes, she wanted to talk to Bella, but as of right now, she was still seeing red and dealing with a mortal would be tedious. Especially knowing that Bella had Klaus' blood in her system after her adventure a few nights ago. Klaus would not take it lightly if something would happen to her.

And neither would Myriam, to be honest. When she took Bella in, she saw so much potential in her and wanted to help her become a better version of herself. To teach her things. To make sure that she was safe, nurtured and equal. Treated like a normal person even though she was surrounded by the Supernatural. Bella was mortal, but special, she just didn't realize how special just yet.


	7. The Great Escape

After having to have their shopping trip cut short, Bella spent some time with the girls in the dormitory, to talk about their options, about their past and see if she could help them in any way. Myriam was usually on top of things, but Bella had access to the same resources as Myriam due to them working together. Besides, sitting in the dormitory all the time wasn't fun either.

She had grabbed a few bottles of alcohol and set up on the balcony of the building and invited the girls to come out and have some fun. A party. Watch the people below. See some smiles on their faces and hope. Ordered pizza and had a good old fashioned get together where they could all forget their troubles for a while.

It's what Bella had needed.

But then the night came and she couldn't sleep as her mind went on and on about Klaus, how he had admitted that she had been nothing but a fun shag to him and it hurt. Which was awful because she needed this to continue her life, a clean break. Or with him. And he choose without her. And it hurt.

Hadn't she been so needy about this, this whole mess could have been avoided and she'd be having the best sex of her life right now, but she was alone. She did not need a man in her life. She didn't. She'd been fine prior coming to New Orleans and it was Klaus who messed with her head by befriending her and eventually turning their relationship into a friends with benefits one. Oh, but they were good benefits. The sex was amazing.

She could leave again. Run away. Again.

Or perhaps just let them find her and end it all.

She wanted to live, truly, but she was only safe in this building. She liked her life as it was, but being outside, living, was preferable too and she couldn't do that with the squirrel munchers still alive. If she lived outside the building, they would come and kill her. And then Klaus would kill them. It was basically a win-win situation, wasn't it?

There was a chance that she would survive. Maybe she should take a chance. Truly live. Get outside, experience New Orleans for the gorgeous city that it was. She always loved it when Klaus spoke of New Orleans, almost as if it was the womb he was made in. She never liked going outside at night because the sun would be gone and they would be there. But taking a chance one of these days? It would definitely be worth it.

The next morning, Bella hauled her ass out of bed, took a refreshing shower and got dressed and went for breakfast where she was ambushed by Myriam. "Morning," Bella said as she moved around the vampire to get to the fridge.

"You look like shit."

"I didn't sleep well, Myriam, but such is life. What can I do for you today? Are you allowing me to go back to work? Maybe have a little fun with a female client?" Bella asked hopeful. "I mean, I've been good for the last three days and I'm itching."

"I was thinking that maybe you and I should have a talk."

"About?"

"Some members of the squad voiced their concerns about Klaus' behaviour the other day after a visit with you. Is everything alright?"

Bella sighed as she slammed the door of the fridge closed. "Yes. Everything's fine. I realized that I need to rely on myself for my own happiness and not sit and wait for someone to bring it to me, unless that person wanted to be with me. And he didn't. So I told him to fuck off or pay for my services."

Myriam's mouth fell open in surprise. "He didn't?"

"He said that he can't give me what I want. I asked him if he sees me as a fun, free fuck and nothing more and he replied yes. So, that's what happened and that's fine," she said as she poured the milk over the cereal. "At least I have the freedom now to do whatever I want with my own life without him being a constant in it. I don't have to be jealous when you two have your fun and I don't have to wait around for him to come and make me feel worth something."

"Bella…"

"No, don't you see? That's my problem. Men are my problem. I am a strong woman, Myriam. I am. I've proven that to myself during the time I was on the run and now it's time to take that back. I don't like feeling like I need someone else to complete me. Especially since he doesn't feel the same way about me as I do about him," she said as she threw her untouched cereal in the sink. "Hear me roar, I am woman." Bella punched the air with her fist Breakfast Club style and walked back to her apartment to pack a bag.

Myriam curiously followed her, seeing the irrationality in Bella's eyes. It was familiar and it was frightening. When Bella first came to stay with her, there were bouts of anger and irresponsible actions. The first few days were terrible with Bella's mind racing and her mouth verbalizing her thoughts. Myriam watched her nearly 24/7 as she was afraid that Bella would hurt herself and if it hadn't been for Klaus being there to help Bella level out, Myriam would have killed the girl, no matter how severe her problems were. Klaus had been a stabilizing factor in Bella's recovery and he just about pushed her away.

"Where are you going?"

"Out. And don't try to follow me or have people following me. I need to breathe," Bella shot at her as she stuffed her ipad in her bag and pushed Myriam away from the door. Or at least tried to. "Myriam, please. Let me go."

"You know I can't compel you."

"No, you can't. And you know how well I do with getting tied up, I always know how to get free so let me go. If you're making me stay here against my will, you're not the person I thought you were."

That hurt. She had been nothing but good to Bella over the last two years. She had protected her, thought of her as kin and now her words stung. "Stay in your room."

Letting out a cry of frustration, Bella turned around and sat down on her bed, eyeing Myriam cautiously. "I'm not staying."

"Yes, you are. I will fix this."

"I don't want it to be fixed, Myriam. I want to be left alone."

"Then stay in your room. I'll be back in a couple of hours." Myriam closed the door and Bella could even hear it lock. Knowing that Myriam likely kept the key in the keyhole, there was no ordinary way out of her room and Myriam liked that.

What Myriam didn't realize, however, was that Bella always had a way out. Her window swung open wide enough for her to squeeze herself through and the sil outside was big enough for her to stand on. There was a sturdy drain pipe a few steps to the left, on the corner. When the drainage system got refurbished a year ago, Bella asked for a stronger pipe as she was afraid of strong winds blowing it off the building and they obliged, which was surprising.

She didn't like doing this, behind Myriam's back. She'd been a rock for Bella for so long, but Bella really needed to get out of there. She needed to breathe. She wanted to get lost in the crowd in New Orleans, become a part of the masses instead of being kept inside. Just one day out in the open, all by herself. Maybe she'd even be naughty and not return for the night but stay in a hotel or something. Yeah, she could do that. She had some cash money on her.

Myriam wouldn't be able to find her anyway. Bella knew how to disappear and since she couldn't be read by mind readers, it was going to be even easier. There was no way that they'd go sniffing around town in daylight, it would be too obvious. Yes, the masses.

After making sure that Myriam had gone, she grabbed her bag and opened her window. She carefully climbed out of it and closed the window from the outside before carefully shuffling her way to the drain pipe before sliding down and disappearing into the alley. First things first; she was going to the French Quarter.

~o.O.o~

She didn't want to ruin another phone, her mobile still needed replacement, but she was seething. Myriam decided to head straight for the compound and sort out her sire. What an asshole. Had he even realized that due to his actions, Bella's recovery had suffered a major setback?

She shoved the lackeys out of the way and headed straight towards the sound of Klaus' voice as he was playing with his child. Making sure he wasn't touching the child, she ran in and pushed him against the wall. "You fucker," she growled as she pinned him against the wall and looked straight at him. "You self absorbed, egotistical maniac!"

Myriam found herself in the position Klaus had been in just seconds before as he had turned them around and returned the favor. "What are you doing here?" He hissed at her. "We have rules about this!"

"Yes, we do and I broke them because what good are rules when you hurt _our girl_?"

"Oh, get off," he spat at her. "You weren't even there. It was her that hurt me." When Myriam struggled to get out of his hold, he used more force to keep her in place.

"Nik?" Freya's voice sounded from behind him. "What are you doing?"

"Freya, be a dear and take Hope into the other room," he said politely, his eyes not leaving Myriam's. "Myriam and I need to have a little chat."

"I'm really tired of being a glorified babysitter," Freya muttered as she scooped Hope from the floor and smiled at her. "Let's see if we can find you something to play with in the other room, Hope. Maybe your dad left a stake around, can't be too soon for you to learn how to stab a vampire."

"Freya!"

"Shut up, Nik."

Once Hope and Freya were out the room, he released Myriam and pointed to the sofa. "Sit. I'll tell you what happened."

"Oh, I know what happened," Myriam huffed as she did as she was told. "She asked you about your intentions with her and you refused her. You refused her, Niklaus! How many times have you told me that you wished that you could be more to her? With her?"

He opened his mouth but closed it as quickly as he had opened it. He moved to his alcohol table and poured himself a drink. After downing the entire glass and filling it again, he finally spoke. "And I would still very much so want that, but what life could I give her, Myriam? I'd want her here, with me, all the time and she more often than not told me she didn't want to leave you. She's safer with you. I would only endanger her even further."

"Oh that's horsecrap."

"I can not be with her unless those Cold Ones have been dealt with."

"Excuses."

"Myriam…"

"What?" She shot at him, getting up again and walking towards him. "Bella says she's fine. _Fine_. She told me that it's _okay_ that you don't feel for her the way she does for you and she wants to go out and have fun. Live life. Be independent, not feeling that her happiness is connected to one person but herself."

Klaus let out a snort. "Are you that desperate to get us together? Myriam, please. We're all adults here. Wasn't one of the rules that you wouldn't interfere in the friendship that Bella and I share and she would not comment on ours?"

"Yes. Unless you'd do something that would hamper her recovery."

"Well, seeing as she wants to go out and have fun, I think that I am not standing in the way of her recovery any longer."

"Out without a chaperone."

"Good on her."

"With those squirrel munchers still around."

"She'll be alright in New Orleans, love," Klaus smiled at her. "Don't you think that I haven't instructed Marcel to instruct his vampires to keep an eye out for Cold Ones and dispose of them immediately if they set foot inside the French Quarter?"

Myriam grabbed the glass out of his hand and downed the drink before throwing it across the room. She realized that there was no way of making him change his mind. He wasn't worried. Of course he wasn't. He compartmentalized everything, it'd come out eventually. " _Our girl_ , our lovely, sweet, kind and broken young woman, wants to go out on the street by herself, without a chaperone. Forget the threat of those self proclaimed vegetarians, remember how damaged she was when she first came to us, Niklaus."

"Coddling her won't help. Let her go, it will be alright." She had hurt him by sending him away and he really didn't want to worry himself about her any more. Or at least for a couple of days. Bella was a big girl, he had every faith in her that she'd look out for herself. She was a survivor and the French Quarter was a safe place. The worst thing that could happen to her was if one of Marcel's vampires would take a bite out of her, but there were so many people around, the chances of that happening would be slim.

Myriam slapped him in the face. " _Cochon!_ Don't bother coming to me for sexual entertainment either. We're done."

"Oh, come on, love, you're worrying too much!"

"Done!" She reached for his cock to break it, but Klaus moved swiftly out of her way. Spitting on the ground, Myriam made her way out of the living room, demolishing everything on her path out. She needed a new plan to save Bella from herself, especially since introducing her to Klaus and encouraging a friendship between them had been such a bad idea.

She knew she couldn't force two people to be together for their own good because that would make her a manipulative bitch, but she had honestly thought that Bella and Klaus would be a perfect fit together. Myriam should have known better than to think that the singer and the hybrid would be able to fix each other, especially since the hybrid was such an asshole.

~o.O.o~

Elijah couldn't help but watch in fascination as Myriam Jenkins left a trail of destruction throughout the compound on her way out. He hadn't returned to the compound since the day before, slightly hesitant to find out how angry Niklaus would be after hearing that Elijah had found his little side project, but he couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Myriam Jenkins seemed like a little force of nature that Elijah would love to get to know better.

"Niklaus? Is everything alright?" Elijah wondered as he strolled into the livingroom. He stepped aside and blocked his brother's punch as he lunged at him. "Niklaus!"

"Did you have to stick your nose into my business, Elijah?" Klaus struck out to punch him again but Elijah deflected that one. "Why do you have this insistent need to have your hand in everything that I do? Are you that jealous of me?"

"Niklaus, I don't have my hand in everything that you do," Elijah said calmly as he ducked to avoid his brother's fist. "Your art, for example. That's all you."

"Débauche is mine," Klaus spat at him. "Well, not even mine, but I've helped with it and it has my full support. You should have stayed clear of it once you realized that I was involved!"

"I find it admirable of you, brother. I didn't believe you had it in you to be kind to those who have been hurt by our community. I know that _we_ own a brothel in town, but Débauche surprised me."

"We don't own Débauche, Elijah. All the money they earn is theirs." Giving up on hitting his brother, he turned back to his alcohol. "And I want you to stay clear of it because I do not wish for those girls to be endangered by your actions."

"Niklaus, I would never."

"You have a habit of ruining good things, Elijah," Klaus reminded him. "Somehow, with your meddling, good things come to an end. I want you to stay away."

"Very well," Elijah sighed as he straightened his tie. "On one condition."

"Name it."

"I'd like to have another meeting with Miss Jenkins and you're going to arrange that for me."

The way Elijah spoke those words didn't please him one bit. "What are your intentions with Myriam?"

"I'd like to get to know her better, seeing as she's involved in the club you tied one of your aliases to, I need to know if we can trust her," a smile danced on his lips. "I realize that you trust her, but like it or not, she's tied to our family due to your involvement with her establishment and your judgement is not always the best there is."

"Over my dead body," Klaus spat and took a swig of his bourbon. "She's off limits."

"Well then," Elijah rubbed his hands with glee. "What can I do to help the women in need?"

Klaus punched Elijah in the face and took another sip. "Once things have quieted down somewhat I'll arrange a meeting between you and Myriam," he said reluctantly. "Leave Débauche alone."

"Of course," Elijah sighed as he procured his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away the blood coming from his nose. "Will you tell me about her?"

"No. She's going to have my cock for dinner as it is, I doubt that the last thing she wants is to have a meeting with you, but she'll just have to grin and bear it for the sake of her establishment, doesn't she?" Klaus said with an amused tone of voice and headed into the other room to relieve Freya from Hope duty.

"Klaus, do you wish for me to cast a protection spell over Bella, just in case?"

Klaus leveled his gaze on his sister. "I think you have done enough, Freya. The next time you want to let anyone in on a secret I trusted you with, I wish you'd discuss it with me first."

"You're welcome! If it wasn't for me, you and Elijah would still be at odds."

"Oh, I have not forgiven him for Hayley just yet, dear sister," Elijah's voice sounded from behind him. "I don't think I ever will."

"You two suck. I can't help but wonder how Rebekah managed to live with the two of you for all of these years!"

"It was simple, really. She was in a box," Klaus smirked as he bounced Hope on his hip, making the girl giggle. "Perhaps I should put our brother in a box for a time out," he mused. "But alas, I do not wish for Hope to grow up without her loving uncle."

"No, you'd rather wish for her to grow up without a mother."

"Elijah!" Freya shot at him. "You're not helping things here."

"Could the both of you just leave?" Klaus requested, not removing his eyes from his beautiful daughter. "We've spoken, we've discussed, the end."


	8. Therapy

No words could describe the atmosphere of the French Quarter during the day. After walking around a little, soaking up the masses of people, admiring the architecture and even visiting a museum, she found a nice little restaurant off Jackson Square and had dinner. While the streets were relatively clean, some places smelled like vomit and piss - luckily for her, she was used to strange smells.

Even at daytime, it was an experience. There were street performers, good jazz music and mostly everyone walked around with a smile on their face, which made it easier for Bella to relax a little. She was anxious to be on the streets, alone, but she had survived for 5 years without a chaperone, why would she still need one now after 2 years of living in safety?

She knew that behind most smiles there was a potential of danger, but why would her danger levels be any higher than any other girl by herself in New Orleans? It wasn't as if Cold Ones would swoop down from the buildings and find her, she'd been lost for two years, there was no doubt that they had given up or at least given up on actively searching for her.

Bella figured she'd be safe for a good day or two without the protection of Myriam and Débauche, before she had to start moving on or return home. She needed a breather, settle her mind again and start anew. Maybe find a self-help book in a bookstore and start eliminating the thought of her having a future with Klaus out of her head.

Maybe she should have told him how she felt about him, that she wanted more, but she'd been too chicken about it and he had been trying to let her down easily. Maybe she had been a little mean to him when she told him that the next time he wanted to fuck her that he'd have to pay for it, but she was hurt. She genuinely believed that he felt the same about her, or maybe at least a little interested, but he didn't. It was a simple school girl crush and she was 25 for fuck's sake. She'd have to have a lid on her crushes like that. Or at least a filter and see past the rose colored world.

On top of that, why would a guy like him like a girl like her? She was messed up. She loved doing what she did to earn money as that was the easiest way to get it - she wasn't quite in need for it at Débauche, but what if she wasn't going to return? What if this freedom felt too good and she'd need money? Shaking her head, she took a sip of her beer. Two years in safety had made her weak.

She was going to live and that meant taking chances, even if that meant ending up dead. She could chance it and send her mother a postcard, but it had been seven years since her mother told her to run and never to look back. Knowing her mother, she wouldn't be living in the same house anyway.

Bella knew that without Myriam and Klaus' protection that she was going to end up dead soon. She was going to enjoy her last days on Earth and have fun. Surrendering voluntarily wasn't an option and she was certainly not going to do it. She was going to die with her head held high.

Or chicken out and return to Débauche.

After dinner, she wandered around the streets a bit longer, and when night fell, she could see the crowd change. They were a bit rougher around the edges, stalking potential victims and Bella didn't like it much. She decided to visit a bar for liquid courage and Rousseau's was the first one she found.

Taking a seat at the bar, she checked all exits and found only one, which was the entrance. Switching seats, she made sure she had an eye on the door at all times and ordered a drink. "Are you okay? You look a little frazzled," the blonde bartender said as she put Bella's drink down in front of her.

"I have some big decisions to make," Bella said with a shrug and took a sip of her beer before gesturing around the bar. "I love the interior of this place. It looks like it took quite a beating."

"Oh, bars tend to," the woman laughed. "It's my job to make it look rustic enough without it falling apart." She extended her hand to Bella. "I'm Cami."

Bella blinked at that. There was no way that she walked into the bar of Klaus' friend, was there? Surely, in a town like New Orleans there would be more girls called Camille or Cami. And manage a bar. And be blonde and gorgeous. Would Klaus have told Cami about her? Not taking any chances, Bella decided to introduce herself with the name she usually went with while on the run. Shaking Cami's hand, she smiled. "Isa, nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Isa," Cami smiled kindly at her. "So, what big decisions? Anything an outsider can help you with?"

"It's something I have to work through myself, but thanks," Bella replied, taking another sip of her beer and then sighed. If this was Klaus' Cami, then maybe she'd be able to give her some insight. "There are several issues, really. One having had an immature crush on someone who's been my friend for a few years that I have to get over because he doesn't feel the same way."

"Oh, boy trouble, those suck. What's he like?"

"He's amazing. He's generous, kind, warm… But I realized that I let my own happiness depend on how many times I'm seeing him and he hadn't shown his face for two months so yeah…"

"Why wait for him to come to you? Never thought about going to him instead?"

She smiled at that. "That's against the rules. I'm part of his life that he likes to keep hidden from his friends and family because he tends to live a high risk life."

"Oh, a bad boy?" Cami smiled widely as she leaned on the counter. "Interesting."

"He's not a bad boy. He's just not afraid to make decisions everyone else is afraid of making and tends to alienate everyone around him with his actions, but deep down, he's not a bad boy. Hot tempered, maybe."

"I know a guy like that. I've been trying to get him to empathise more, at least to feel a little remorse about his latest actions that hurt a lot of people in his family, but I feel close to having him do that but there's something that he's hiding, and unless I know what that is, I don't think I can be much of help to him. He does like to talk."

"I'm pretty sure that having someone to talk to is a big help for your guy," Bella said as she took another sip of her beer. "Anyway, mine is such a catch, but he doesn't share the same feelings. I've had heartbreak before, but this is worse. And on top of that, he's best buddies with the woman I've been staying with for the last two years."

"Oh, ouch."

"But seeing as I'm probably not going to be alive for much longer, maybe I should just grin and bear it, you know. Have him on my mind when I leave this earth. Poetic," Bella mused as she downed the rest of her beer.

Cami's smile turned into a frown. "You're sick?"

"Terminal," Bella nodded.

"Does he know that?"

"They all do, which is why I was staying with his friend."

"Well that sucks."

"Eh," Bella shrugged. "It's okay. I've made my peace with it. I mean, I could have died two years ago and then all of this wouldn't have happened and everyone would have been better off."

"Oh, don't say that, I'm sure you're fun to be around."

"And you're just saying that because I'm terminal and a paying customer," Bella grinned and put some money on the bar. "Tequila please, and have a drink yourself."

"Ha!" Cami pushed the note back and poured the shots. "On the house."

"Oh, thanks but not necessary, I can pay-"

"Nope, not having it. So, now that you've made up your mind, somewhat, maybe you can help me with my guy trouble," Cami grinned. "How can I make him open him up more?"

"You're a bartender, surely you have your ways," Bella said, gesturing to her drink. "Get him drunk."

"Oh, I wish," Cami laughed. "My guy has a high tolerance for alcohol."

"Oh, I know what's that like!" Bella grinned. "Whenever he came to visit me, he'd down at least half a bottle of good bourbon and those bottles aren't cheap."

Cami blinked at that before refilling the shot glasses. "Huh."

"What?"

"Is he a uhm… creature of the night, perhaps?"

"By creature you mean… what, exactly?" Bella narrowed her eyes on Cami. Fuck, this was Klaus' Camille. She had to be really careful now, Cami wasn't supposed to find out about her.

"Gigolo," Cami nodded with a playful smile on her lips.

"Oh, definitely," Bella raised her glass as if she was toasting and downed it. "I've met all sorts of gigolo's and I must say, he's been the best of them all."

"Are you…"

"Me? No! Oh, please no. Granted, there are some perks to being a gigolo but no. I'm an entertainer and very much alive."

"Well that's good, did you ever nearly got killed by one?"

Bella winced at the memory of James, even Jasper lunging at her when she had a paper cut. "Yep, you?"

"Yeah, about two months ago I was in the middle of a gigolo family feud," Camille said bitterly. "My - client - was pretending to be insane and killed his brother's lover right in front of him to please his aunt and then nearly killed me but kept me alive because I had to tell his brother that it was a ruse. Believe me, it's not fun to be in the middle of it all. His chaos, however, probably saved them all. As I was the only one who trusted him, his actions were met with a lot of resistance and anger." she then sighed. "His actions caused his entire family to resent him, especially his brother, and he, stubborn pig that he is, refuses to apologize because in his eyes, there's nothing to apologize for."

Bella slowly nodded. Cami was in the middle of Klaus' family, Bella was not. Was Bella jealous? Maybe a little, but getting hurt wasn't what she'd sign up for. "Does it happen a lot?"

"Well, in the beginning of our friendship, my guy liked to erase my memory a lot as he didn't completely trust me, getting those memories back hurt like a bitch."

The rules were that their lives wouldn't mix, even Myriam wasn't allowed to be at the compound. She knew that it was for her own protection, but maybe Klaus lied to her so she wouldn't become another Cami. So that she wouldn't have to put up with more vampire shit. But he should have asked her, because for _him_ , Bella would have put up with it. Because he wasn't Edward even if he acted like him when he told her that he didn't think it would be wise to want for more. "Oh, damn," Bella sighed as she downed a fresh shot of Tequila. "My gigolo wanted to protect me from all the gigolo crap going on in his life."

"Which is probably for the best, trust me. This whole gigolo shit is getting old, but I'm stuck with it now," Cami replied. "But, since you're terminal and all… maybe you should go and have a chat with him."

"Nah," she sighed again. "It's probably for the best. This way there won't be any hard feelings."

"Oh no," Cami shook her head. "You should talk to him. What's his name? I'm sure that I know one who knows him. We'll call him and you and him can have a talk."

Feeling panic rise inside of her, she shook her head and put money on the bar. She then grabbed her coat and bag. "No, I'm sorry. Thanks, Cami. Good luck with your _gigolo_ , but I have to go." Bella then rushed out of Rousseau's and disappeared into the night.

~o.O.o~

"I told you, Myriam," Klaus said into the phone as he walked down the street. "You're worrying too much, she'll return home eventually."

" _And what if she doesn't?"_

"Then I'll do everything in my power to return her to you," he said, still amused by the story that Myriam told him about Bella's escape. She should have bolted that window shut if she was so afraid of Bella leaving on her own. He thought it was ballsy and risky, but he couldn't help but feel proud of the girl. "She'll have two days of freedom and then she'll realize she needs to return if she wants to feel safe. You know as well as I do that she values her life."

" _I'm not so sure anymore after you broke her heart."_

"Don't blame me!" He hissed into the phone before disconnecting the call and opened the door to Rousseau's for a chat with Camille. Bella's scent greeted him instantly. It was fresh, probably an hour or so old, and it seemed like she had spent quite some time in the bar. Confused for a second, he headed straight for his therapist.

"Ah! There he is, my gigolo!" Cami greeted him with a big smile on her face.

Caught off guard and his concern momentarily forgotten, he didn't know what to say in return. "Your what?"

She waved her hand and shrugged. "A safe word when talking about people like you. You looked kinda intense while walking in here, thought I'd diffuse the situation a little."

"Right," he said, still a little confused. He stopped at the chair where Bella's scent was the strongest. Of all the bars in New Orleans, she just had to find Cami's. Maybe he could convince Bella to go back to Myriam's for her own safety. As much as he applauded her new sense of independence, he still worried about her safety - even if the threats came from the non-vampire community. "Where is she?"

"Where's who?"

"You know who I'm talking about, Camille!" He shot at her and pointed at the empty stool in front of him. "Bella."

"Uhm…" she cocked her head. "I don't know any Bella."

"Don't mess with me, Camille. Bella's a fragile young woman and she needs to-"

"Klaus, you have no idea how many people come to my bar on a night like this! You have to be more specific."

"She was sat right here," he said, slamming his hand on the bar. "This chair."

"Oh! Isa! Yeah, she left about half an hour ago after I mentioned we should call her- wait," Cami started and then stopped as she watched Klaus' face. "You know her?"

Isa. She was using her old alias again, this was bad, this was trouble. Taking a deep breath, ignoring her scent because it drove him mad with worry, he sat down and gratefully took the bourbon Cami had poured him. "What did you two chat about?"

"Oh, that's bartender-client privilege, Klaus. You know her. From where? How come I've never heard of her?"

"Camille!"

"Fine," she said, throwing her hands up in defense. "The usual when a girl walks in by herself. Boy trouble. She had a big decision to make and she made it. I doubt she'll be returning to the friend she was staying with for the last two years, she looked like she was going to enjoy her last days on this Earth."

"Excuse me?"

"She's terminal, Klaus."

"Terminal? Really?" He said annoyed. "That's what she said to you?" Oh, this was not good and it was his fault, wasn't it? Was it, though? Maybe the event with that popstar had done more damage than he and Myriam originally thought and gave her a nudge. Which was also probably why she asked him about his intentions with her.

"She said she wouldn't be alive anymore in a couple of days."

"That's probably because when I find her, I'll force feed her my blood and kill her so that she comes back as a vampire and I'll spend the rest of my life breaking her neck over and over again!"

Cami huffed. "Please. You can't do that."

"Watch me!"

"Klaus, didn't you tell me that you can't cure terminal diseases with your blood?"

"She's not terminal, she's suicidal. That's something else entirely and I'm disappointed in you, Camille, for not recognizing that. What kind of a therapist are you?"

She was surprised by his outburst and his obvious interest in the mental health of her new patron. "Who is she? Why haven't you mentioned her before?"

"She's not of your concern."

"The hell she is, you come barging in here demanding where she is! You made it my concern! Are you her boy-vampire problem? Did you break her heart? Klaus, I didn't even know you were seeing someone!"

He let out a low growl in warning and downed his bourbon. "You don't know the entire story and I will not go into it with you. That part of my life is not your concern," he said as he got up from the chair. "Now, please excuse me while I go and try to follow her trail and bring her back home. Kicking and screaming if I have to."

Cami watched Klaus walk out of her bar and turned to grab her notepad. He _was_ going to talk to her about this and she was going to write down every single detail that she could remember about Isa's story so she could confront him with it at their next session. Had she finally found out the thing that he had been hiding from her? The secret that could help him with his humanity?

~o.O.o~

Bella had refused to go back to Débauche and instead hid in a not too smelly alley as she counted her money to see what she had left and if she could afford to spend the night in a bed and breakfast or hotel. But it was late, so she was probably going to have the spend the entire night out.

It was about 3 am, she had walked all over the French Quarter, just in case, to diffuse her scent. The Cold Ones could be tracking her by now and she made sure that she double backed as often as possible and made them go in circles if they had caught a whiff of her.

Granted, her scent probably changed over the years as she matured, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She still had a few more days left of freedom and she was going to enjoy herself.

Just as she was leaving the alley, she watched as someone pushed a guy against a wall, softly talking to him before pulling a knife out of his pocket. She was not going to watch some guy get mugged or murdered in front of her, no way! "Hey!" she called out as she picked up a piece of wood and started to hit the assailant with. "Leave him alone!"

"He's a friend, don't worry about it," the man replied with an English accent as he looked into her eyes. "Now, be a good girl and toddle off. Forget you saw my face."

"The hell I will," she growled as she aimed for the vampire's heart but missed as he took the wood and threw it far away. "You will not kill that guy!"

"I can't compel you, that's interesting. Are you a witch?"

"No, I'm a human and you can't compel me, that's right. You're going to release that man from his compulsion and I won't tell on you." The vampire knocked the air out of her lungs as he pushed her against the wall and put his hand on her chest to stop her from leaving. "Let me go!" She tried to knee him in the groin, but her attempt caused the vampire to laugh.

"Alright, little one," he said amused. "I'll release him, on the condition that you're going to have a drink with me. Seeing as there's no bar open, it'll have to be at my new penthouse."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Then I will kill that man," he shrugged and released her before turning his attention back to his victim.

Bella let out a cry of frustration. "Fine! Fucking vampires! I can't escape you, can I? At least tell me your fucking name if you're taking me home!"

"Oh, my apologies," the vampire said as he mockingly bowed. "I can be so rude at times. The name is Lucien. Lucien Castle."


	9. Castle

"Impressive," Bella said as Lucien lead her from the elevator to his penthouse. "You can overlook the entire city from here. Must have cost a fortune."

"I had an in with the realtor," Lucien said as he closed the door behind her and took her coat and bag. "Please, sit. What can I offer you to drink?"

"Something that will destroy my liver please," she muttered as she did as she was told. It was never good to upset a strange vampire. Had she known he was a vampire when he was just about to do whatever he was going to do to that innocent man, she would have hid and waited until it was over. Then ran for her life. "I'm Isa, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Isa," Lucien said as he handed her a glass of red wine. "I hope wine is alright, unless you prefer something stronger?"

"I'm still slightly buzzed from the tequila earlier this evening, but thank you," she replied as she took a sip from her wine and set it down on a coaster on the table. "I know you're just itching to know why you couldn't compel me."

"You've been asked this before, then?" Lucien sat down in a chair next to the couch and smiled at her. "I find it amazing for a normal human being not to be compelled. It's usually only werewolves and witches that have a resistance to it."

"It's not just compulsion. My mind can't be read. It's a fortress up there, which is kinda cool, I suppose," she said with half a shrug. "Especially when dealing with the supernatural, then at least your thoughts are private and your actions your own."

"Amazing. Truly. And are you sure you're just a human? No other powers that need to be mentioned?"

"Just human," she replied and then cocked her head. "You don't seem to be surprised by my knowledge of the supernatural."

"This is New Orleans, love, 75% of the people in the Quarter are supernatural."

"So what? You brought me back here to drink my blood? Which is fine, I just have to warn you that there might be vervain in my system, I've only stopped taking it this morning."

"Oh no, no, don't worry, I will not drink your blood without your consent. I'm a monster, yes, but I wouldn't want to hurt you." He sounded disappointed, probably thinking she couldn't be compelled because of the vervain. He looked a little bit freaked out too. Was it because she offered her blood so willingly? She decided to put it to the test.

"You can have it, if you want, I don't care," she held out her arm for him to take, but all it did was having him push the chair further away from her. "Look, I'm sure you have questions that I'm not willing to answer. It's 3.30 am. Can't I just crash on your couch for the night? You can have me all day tomorrow because I stopped you from killing that man."

Lucien blinked. This girl was either nuts or had a death wish, was she really asking him if she could stay on the couch in his presence? A vampire? Had his intentions been less pure, she would have been dead by now, wasn't she aware how lucky she was? "You are far too comfortable around vampires," he said playfully as he got up and retrieved an extra set of bedding from the other room. "I'd offer you my spare room, but my friend Alexis is staying in there."

"Your friend?"

"My witch. She's a clairvoyant. She's also known to help me stave off boredom every once in awhile," his smile had a certain kind of fondness. "Don't worry, she serves me willingly and I pay her well." He put the bedding down on the couch. "Sleep for as long as you need, Isa. You look like you could use it well."

"Thank you," she said as she kicked off her shoes and covered herself with the blankets.

Frowning, Lucien shook his head. "I was going to offer you my bedroom."

"Chivalry is dead," she muttered as she moved a little until she was comfortable and passed out immediately as she allowed the sleep come over her.

~o.O.o~

Bella was good, Klaus had to hand her that. He had been searching the entire quarter all night, her scent only leading him in circles and Freya wasn't getting anywhere with a locator spell. Neither did the witches of Débauche. The only thing everyone could agree upon was that she hadn't left New Orleans. Which was either a good thing or a very bad thing, seeing as she could be dead. Then again, she'd still have had vampire blood in her system.

It was something that he and Myriam had agreed upon after having spoken to Bella a month after she had arrived at the shelter. Bella wasn't averse of becoming a vampire, she actually wanted to as it would make her less vulnerable, but both Myriam and Klaus wanted her to spend some time as a human who wasn't on the run, to enjoy life.

Bella refused until they made a pact; Myriam would put a little of her blood in Bella's morning coffee from the kitchen every day and Bella would not try to kill herself. She was going to stay human for 5 more years. It was simply a precaution in case something would go wrong and Bella would find herself dead at the hands of a Cold One.

Should she have perished, she'd come back as a vampire, ready to kick some ass. He wasn't _that_ worried about it. However, she could have been taken. Someone could have taken her and would probably wait until the blood was out of her system to kill her. They still had some time.

And now, he was reluctantly having lunch with Myriam and some of her witches for damage control. "Why isn't the A-squad not looking for her?"

"Because they no longer work for me. They received a better offer, one that I wasn't willing to counter because it was simply too much," Myriam said sharply, quite upset about having lost her main attraction at the strip club. "I now have to hold auditions to fill up their spot at the club."

"Call them back, I'll pay them."

"Oh, come on, Nik," Myriam sighed as she tiredly pinched the bridge of her nose. "It was time they moved on anyway, the club was due for a lineup change."

"Aren't you afraid that they will turn on you now?"

"They never go after former clients unless they have a very good reason. Seeing as I've always treated them well, I have no doubt that we, and the secrets kept in this building, are safe. And if not, I'll sue the pants off of them because they signed NDA's when they started to work for me," she said smugly and took a sip of her coffee.

"And you know how I felt about that, love," he said angrily. "They're assassins for hire. Had they been truly loyal to you, they wouldn't have left, so I would not feel safe because whoever they're working for now, obviously has a lot of money to burn if they need protection. You should have asked me, I would have given you the money to have them stay or I would have killed them."

"Klaus!"

"As a matter of fact, give me their number and I'll hire them myself," he said smug as he took a sip of his tea and took a bite out of his toast. Myriam insisted on having normal breakfast when they were out in the open, it was a good thing that he had fed before.

"And then what? Have your vampires feel inadequate?"

"Hope needs nannies."

"Hope needs her mother," Myriam countered sharply. "You're starting to sound like your brother, Nik."

"Speaking of my brother…"

"I don't want to hear this," Myriam shook her head. "Nope, not having it."

Sighing, he looked at her. "Love, it was either you or allowing him to mess with the club and the shelter."

"So you picked me?!"

"He wants to get to know you and I know how much you like to bust balls, so I'll set up a meeting for you two and you can sort it out," he said amused. "Perhaps invite him to the opening of my exhibition in a few days."

She pointed her fork at him and narrowed her eyes. "That sounds awfully a lot like a date. You know I don't date." She eyed the witches as they quietly retreated from the table to give the two some space and privacy.

"That's because you were sleeping with me. Now that's not happening anymore, I thought I'd be nice and help out a friend. From what I hear, Elijah is quite the lover."

"You're being an asshole."

"Well forgive me, love, I haven't had the best of days lately!"

"And whose fault is that, _love_?" she countered. "If you had just told Bella the truth, that you wanted her to be your girlfriend, wear your letterman jacket, wear your ring, all those fancy schmancy things, we wouldn't be in our current predicament of trying to find a supernatural girl that's more rare than your precious Petrova doppelgangers, would we? And like a fool, you had to fall in love with the girl!"

"This is my fault?"

"Of course it is!"

"Well she could have spoken about her feelings to me, haven't you even considered that?"

"Oh, sure, but you forget that she was here for a reason, _Niklaus_. And the moment she was ready to open up, albeit making the mistake of asking you about your feelings about her, you make the mistake of sounding exactly like the douchebag that hurt her in the past and opened old wounds. Way to go."

"She was fine!"

"Unstable! And now she's gone!"

"I told you not to coddle her."

"And I told you, that I'm not. I wasn't. I spent every day with her Klaus, I'd see her at least once a day, I'm pretty sure I know her better than you do. I swear, if anything happens to her…"

"What?"

"I will feed you your own dick."

Klaus was quiet for a moment and both vampires finished their breakfast. "She never gave any indication that she was that bad."

"That's what she does. She escapes in fun, music, sex. Conversations about her are usually quickly turned around to yourself or she only shares half of it. She's a survivor, Klaus, just like us. We just had more years to deal with the shit we've had to deal with. She's still getting used to the idea that other people care about her, despite her having an apartment of her own upstairs. She's not ready for the big world on her own."

"Then how do you know that her feelings for me were genuine? It could very well have been a case of Stockholm Syndrome or latching on to the first person who was nice to her."

Myriam nodded and sighed. She had thought the same way, but after some careful thought, she had come to a different conclusion. "If that was the case, she wouldn't have been brave enough to ask you about your intentions with her. All she's guilty of is self preservation. You rejected her, and she went in fight or flight mode. You were her anchor. Not me. You. Your absence in the last two months were hard on her too."

Klaus huffed. "Well, I was a little busy."

"I know that. She knows that. It's not easy being you," she countered gently. "But imagine being in her shoes for a moment. For months on end, you came by at regular intervals. You two had fun together. Talks. Sex. Silliness. You made her laugh so hard her ribs hurt. Then all of a sudden, you stop coming round. She felt rejected."

"It's just two months."

"For a human girl in Bella's position, that's a lifetime. And I know the rules. I didn't call you because that's not how we set things up for her, so partially, I suppose I am to blame as well."

"How do we fix this?" Klaus sighed. "What if she's lost forever? What if she's in the wrong hands and they will take advantage of her rarity?"

"Well, then we only have ourselves to blame. But with the witches and Freya keeping a magical eye out, I suppose the best we can do is to take a nap and start looking for her again once we've recharged our batteries," Myriam then smiled. "She may be broken, but she's got her smarts."

~o.O.o~

Bella woke up to the smell of food. Glorious, belly warming food, and was surprised to find a woman sitting across from her with a filled plate on her lap and ready to dig in. "Rise and shine," the woman smiled at her. "Slept well?"

"I guess…"

"It's 5 pm and it's dinner time. Lucien is out for the night but you're more than welcome to stay if you need another night to crash. I'm Alexis, by the way."

"Isa," she grumbled as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Where is Lucien?"

"He's recruiting. His company recently acquired a big piece of the Bayou that's being overrun by some wildlife that needs to be taken care of before the company can start building there," she smiled gently. "Don't worry, you're safe here and the food is good. I also took the liberty to order you some new clothes. For some reason the whole transient hippy style doesn't suit you."

She looked at her clothes and shrugged. "It's comfortable." There was honestly nothing wrong with her jeans and her t-shirt and this Alexis was being too… maybe Bella was too paranoid.

"Grab some food if you like, it's human safe, I promise."

"I'm good, thanks," she said as her stomach rumbled. "You're Lucien's friend?"

"Yep."

"And you're a witch?"

"Yes. And a clairvoyant."

She was quiet for a moment as she observed the girl, she was dressed in a skimpy dress, covered with a cardigan. Her hair looked out of control and she had a friendly expression on her face, but looks could be deceiving. "Forgive me asking, but you're a witch. Shouldn't vampires be your mortal enemy?"

"Lucien pays well," she smiled. "Like… extremely well. He also keeps me safe, there aren't many witches that can do what I do. Well, not this accurate anyway."

"What do you do?"

"I tell the future, of course," Alexis grinned. "Prophecies, that's my kinda thing. That's why we're in town, for a prophecy that could end vampire sire lines."

Feigning the lack of knowledge, Bella forced herself to blink in confusion. "What?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot, you're used to Cold Ones, aren't you? They don't play by the same rules, if they even have rules they live by."

"How-"

Alexis merely pointed to her head before explaining the sire lines. "Lucien sired quite few vampires in his time as one. Should he die, all his progeny dies with him. Now, it wouldn't make too much of a difference in the vampire world if it's just his line and the lines that his vampires created. However, all vampires can be traced back to the original vampire family. The first ones. The Old ones. The Originals. And that's why we're here. Something big is going to happen and we have to make sure that no harm will come to those vampires."

"The Original Vampires are here, in New Orleans?"

"Last time we checked, yes. Don't be afraid, though. Although they're ruthless, they're not as bad as the Volturi."

"You know of the Volturi?"

"Don't be so shocked," Alexis laughed. "Yes, they're secretive, but when you're like me, you can punch through the veil of deception and learn all that is to know about the other kind of vampires. It also helps for safety, you know. A secure job. The more you know, the more valuable you are."

"I guess," Bella said as she tiredly ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe that's why I had so many clients."

"I know things. Like… Isa isn't really your name, is it? Isabella?"

"It's Isa. I go by Isa," Bella countered as she narrowed her eyes on Alexis. "I swear, if you tell Lucien about this…"

"Don't worry, us girls need to stick together," Alexis winked. "Go grab some food, Isa, we have a lot to discuss."

"We do?"

"Oh yeah," she nodded as she took a sip of her drink. "Because I don't know if you know it or not, but you're no ordinary human and it's time that someone tells you what you are. I'd rather tell you first than I tell Lucien so you can figure out what to do."

Looking over her shoulder as Bella put some food on a plate, she frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Lucien likes beautiful women, and you're certainly that. I told him this morning that you're in trouble and you're moonlighting as an escort from time to time. Don't be surprised if he offers you money to spend a couple of days with him."

"I don't think I can. The Cold Ones -"

"Won't be able to find you here. I promise. For Lucien's and my own safety, I always put up protection spells to make sure we can't be tracked. Now that you're inside this penthouse, you don't have to run anymore."

She carefully put down the plate as alarm bells went off in her head. Granted, it wasn't something new; she'd spent weekends with men before when she was on the run, for the easy money, but to have someone blatantly put it out there, telling her what was going to happen, was uncomfortable. It was Alice all over again. "I don't think I should…"

"Then at least stay, aren't you the least bit curious what I have to tell you about yourself?"

And then there was that. Was she going to entertain Alexis? She wasn't sure if she could believe her, but then again, she'd been right about everything she said so far. Knowledge is power, she knew that. And if she was truly safe here, then she would live for a few more days, which was a bonus. Sighing reluctantly, she poured herself a drink and took her food and drink back to the couch. "Alright, you win."


	10. A Surprising Turn Of Events

While they were eating their dinner, Alexis explained how her own gift worked. "You were right, witches and vampires should be mortal enemies, and having a witch like me working for someone like Lucien… well…. let's just say that I'm not popular in the community," she smiled. "Thankfully, I'm not a New Orleans witch, that would have been far far worse. They're so attached to their old beliefs and rituals that it's pathetic."

"I don't like witches much. Especially those who can see the future," Bella replied as she took another bite of her food. She had to admit, it was delicious, one of the best things she had ever tasted.

"I know that, and that's why I want to be open with you, because I don't want to give you any reason not to believe me. Or trust me, but trust is something sacred, trust is to be earned. Lucien mostly uses me to predict the future for him. He's quite the successful business man, but he's had some witchy help on his way up. He drinks from me, and I can see his future. Or at least bits and pieces of it," she explained. "Images will become more clear once the opportunity approaches, but I'm good at what I do."

"Giving him bits and pieces doesn't sounds like you're good."

"Hey! I do that to protect myself, you know. Self preservation. I like to stay alive."

Bella slowly nodded as she continued clearing her plate.

"It works different on non-vampires, like humans and witches. With you, for example, the moment you stepped into the penthouse last night, I started getting dreams about you. About your life, not quite clear as some areas are hidden, but I got the reader's digest version. When I woke up and saw you, I started to see endless possibilities for you. And it was then when I realized what you truly are."

A little bit alarmed by what Alexis could have found out about her, Bella looked at her with big eyes. "What do you know about my life?"

"Just that you're a whore and have been running from a coven of Cold Ones, but that you've also protected yourself with magic that I can't get through to, so maybe it's for my own good if I don't pry."

Sighing slightly, she nodded again. She was grateful that even with her having fallen off the face of the Earth for a while, there was still an active protection spell around her, hiding her true life, hiding Débauche to protect the other girls.

"I had to double check my information so I called my mentor with a hypothetical question about what you are and he confirmed it. What you are, Isabella, is quite rare and quite powerful."

"What am I?"

"You're a singer."

She winced at that. Edward had called her his singer. Emmett had killed two singers because they smelled so good and she was pretty sure that all the other singers had been turned or killed. "That's nothing new." She then smirked. "If you're referring to my voice, then you're out of luck. I can not hold a tune even if my life depended on it."

"Well, if you know you're a singer, then you must also know that they don't tend to survive for very long after getting in contact with their audience," Alexis pointed out with an amused smile on her face. She liked the snark that Bella was throwing at her, she was definitely hiding something. Why else would there be an entire blank section of her life in her dreams?

"No, they don't, but I escaped seven years ago and I'm still running."

Alexis nodded and took a sip of her drink. "Did you know that singers become more potent, more powerful, if they stay alive longer? Their blood could start to appeal to other Cold Ones, almost drawing them in, making it harder for the singer to stay human."

Bella snorted out her drink. "That is just the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I'm sorry, but that's just…" she hiccuped. "Impossible."

"No, I'm serious," Alexis laughed. "The longer you stay human, the more potent you'll become."

"And what could I do, other than attracting Cold Ones and pray that they don't kill me?"

"You kill them, of course," she replied nonchalant as she put her empty plate on the table and crossed her legs over each other. "You lure them in, and kill them."

Bella smiled at that. "And how do I do that when they're made out of a solid mass, their blood is poisonous and on top of that, even Cold Ones have trouble with pulling Cold Ones apart so how am I, a mere human, supposed to kill them?"

"You become immortal. You're in a city filled with vampires! Have some blood in your system, jump off a building and rise more powerful than ever."

Alexis was telling a story, and Bella was not going to fall for it. "My knowledge of your vampires is quite slim, but isn't it the same way as with the Cold Ones, that if you're remotely magical you'll lose that upon death?"

"Ah, yeah," she sounded bummed out and thought for a moment. "That is true… but you're not a witch. You're something else."

"But still, even if that was the case, if somehow I became like… those things in mythology, a siren, that would be lost the moment I turn," Bella shrugged. "Nice story, Alexis, but I'm afraid you and your mentor have lost the plot."

"Damnit, I was so excited for you about this. That you'd finally have answers. Or a purpose. You deserve that. Those rotten Cold Ones have been messing with you for far too long."

Bella shrugged as she put her plate on the table and pulled on her shoes before getting up. "Well, story time's over. I think I'll leave now."

"But Lucien…"

"No, you're right, this is freaking me out. A nice vampire and a witch working for him? No, this is just too much. Tell Lucien I won't tell on him for what he wanted to do last night but I can't stay," she turned around to address Alexis even further, but all of a sudden she could feel her head spin. "Oh, that's not good…"

"You might be resistant against compulsion and mind invasion, little girl, but you're not resistant against drugs or magic, sleep tight!"

~o.O.o~

Bella came to to Lucien yelling at Alexis. "I specifically told you not to harm her!"

"She wanted to leave! She can't leave! She's special!"

Bella smirked at that. She could turn this entire situation around and make sure that she wouldn't end up hurt. She was going to demand money. She was going to command the place and own it. Hell yeah. Damsel in distress? Nah. She was kickass.

"Alexis, I know that but if she wanted to leave you should have just let her go," Lucien sounded desperate. "I was trying to have her getting to trust us."

"And she saw right through that. She's smart, Lucien. She knows more than she lets on. She could be dangerous."

"She's human."

"Yeah well, while she's out, I took a few vials of blood for testing."

"Alexis!"

"You were gone for _days_ , Lucien. _Days_. I had to keep her here for when you'd return, and I did. So, go make nice to her. She must be waking up by now," Alexis said playfully. "Careful though, I think that for a human, she packs quite a punch."

Lucien barged into his bedroom finding Bella sitting up and looking at him as if her look could kill. "Isa… I am so terribly sorry."

"Save it," she said with a shrug. "You owe me 5 grand."

Lucien blinked. "That is outrageous! For what!"

"My time. You were gone for days, I hear. I've been keeping your bed warm. I think 5 grand is a decent fee for keeping your bed warm," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Because your witch kept me asleep all the time, I had to include hazard pay. Risk of bedsores and all that." She then smelled her armpits. "Be glad I don't make it 6 grand for making me stink like a fish vendor." Bella got out of bed and picked up the clothes that Alexis had bought her. "I'm going to take a nice, refreshing shower. When I'm done, I want you to have the money or I'll tear off your cock and shove it up your ass."

"What?"

"You heard me," she smiled at him as she walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open. "For another 200 bucks you can have me any way you want. If you want a date night, that's 500 bucks, including valet parking of your cock in my pussy. 750 bucks if Alexis wants to join us."

"You're insane!"

"Fork over the money and decide what you want," Bella said as she started to throw her worn clothes out of the bathroom and filled up the bath. She was being bold, but having been out for the count for so long had recharged her batteries.

If they wanted to screw with her head, she was going to screw with them. Survival of the fittest and she knew all about survival. Taking her blood for 'testing'? Lucien had said that he didn't want her blood and yet the witch took it from her. No, something shady was going on and Bella wasn't having it.

Going head to head with vampires? Well, maybe she had a death wish, but at least she'd die trying. But she was quite sure that they wouldn't kill her, otherwise Alexis would have done so already. They wanted her for something and she was going to exploit that.

She realized that Myriam must be worried sick, and made a mental note of sending Myriam a message from her ipad if there was a free wifi signal. If all went well, Bella would be home in no time. Yeah, maybe it had been a little bit too soon for her to spread her wings and go 'fuck all'.

Bella was just about to get into the bath when Lucien entered the bathroom, fully clothed. She turned around to face him in all of her naked glory and cocked her head as she eyed him. He was holding something behind his back. "Whatever that is, it looks too big to be my money."

"Wow, well… uhm," Lucien said as he hungrily licked his lips. "You are beautiful."

"I know," Bella replied curtly. "Thanks."

"I was gone for a couple of days, yes, and I am very sorry for what Alexis has done to you, but I promise you, you weren't violated in any way."

"She took my blood."

Lucien winced and then shrugged. "Apart from that."

"I want it back."

Sighing, Lucien slowly nodded. "Very well, I shall get you the vials, but in the meantime, maybe my present to you would please you?"

Bella crossed her arms over her chest and hoped that she could continue to keep up the surge of confidence in herself, she was feeling awesome despite the fact that the vampire was probably mock grovelling at her feet. Her eyes widened in shock when he produced her present from behind his back. "How?"

"As I said, I was gone for a couple of days because I came across this one," he said as he looked at the head that was dangling from its red strands of hair. "She made some rather crude comments about your scent being on me and what she wished to do with you. Of course, to defend your honor, I dismembered her. Made sure her body burned and brought you her head. Now, sweet Isa, what do you wish for me to do with her head?"

She was slightly taken aback by Victoria's head, it was still moving and luckily it wasn't speaking but a sense of relief came over her and she couldn't help but to smile widely. "Do you have the intention to make use of my offer, Lucien?"

"Perhaps, yes," Lucien smiled at her. "I wish to take you for a night out in town. A friend of mine just opened an exhibition and I really wish to see the look on his face when we meet. I haven't seen him in centuries."

"After?"

"Yes, perhaps after that, we could continue the night together."

"Good, then I want her in the bedroom, facing the bed. She can watch us," Bella said with a nod and got into the bath, grateful to see a clean razor sitting on the edge of the bath. "I suppose I'll have to prepare for our _date_ ," she said playfully and winked at him. Bella had no intention of going back with him, not if she could help it. She hoped that she would be able to message Myriam and that she would come and find her. But the idea of Victoria watching Bella have sex with someone thrilled her as well.

Maybe Myriam could wait for one more day…

~o.O.o~

Well, at least Alexis hadn't dressed her like she was starring in some sort of clothing commercial. Bella still hated her, she hated seers, but at least the clothes were alright. The red and black pencil dress was figure hugging and accentuating all of her curves in the right places and the heels weren't too bad either.

The best part about the dress was that Lucien couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Yeah, she was definitely going to have to wear him out in bed later. She was now in work mode and there was nothing that could stop her from doing anything else. She was in control - for the moment.

Lucien's driver took them to Algiers, to a jazz club with a very rich history. Klaus had told Bella about this once; St. James Infirmary was a staple, it had been a neutral meeting ground for all three factions of New Orleans for centuries and only last year they warded it with spells so that nobody could use offensive magic, only defensive. It was a safe place, it was also a place where Bella couldn't be tracked.

The way Lucien spoke of his old friend made her wonder if they were even friends. The words he spoke were laced with contempt and anger and when she asked why he was being so weird about it, he truthfully said that his friend had deceived him once or twice, but despite that, there weren't any hard feelings. It happened centuries ago and who held grudges for centuries?

Bella knew the answer to that. All vampires did. Now she wasn't so sure if she'd leave the party alive or in a body bag.

She looped her arm through his as they walked into the building and the first thing she noticed was the amount of paintings on display. There were a lot of them. Then there were the people and a particularly loud art critic. "It's a derivative fiasco- little atmosphere, less technique. It's nothing more than a self-congratulatory ego trip," the man said, causing Lucien to grin and carefully maneuvering the both of them around a few paintings before Lucien spoke up.

"I wouldn't expect _you_ to host an art show without compelling the critics to speak your praise."

"And I wouldn't expect an uncultured _savage_ to crash such a formal affair."

Bella held her breath in shock. She knew that voice. It was Klaus! Luckily, she was still hidden by some paintings and quickly unhooked her arm from Lucien and walked to the other end of the infirmary to collect herself. She didn't smell like herself because of the products in Lucien's bathroom that obviously belonged to Alexis and she was wearing new clothes so hopefully that would diffuse the scent somewhat, but she was panicking.

There was no doubt that Klaus would send her home. Immediately.

Her eyes fell upon a painting that she sort of recognized. Moving towards it, she observed it, the brush strokes and the image itself. It was obvious, to her at least, that it was her. Her face was unrecognizable and it was mainly her back, but it was her. She recognized the curtains that were hanging in her room at Débauche. Her image was holding the drapes, almost as if she was hiding or peeking through the windows and it was just so beautiful.

Then she saw the tag next to it. The name of the painting was 'A candle lit in the night', watercolour painting and it wasn't for sale. She just kept staring at the tag and the painting as if she was in some sort of trance. It didn't make sense. Why would he have pushed her away if he thought about her like this?

"You do realize that your absence in the lives of your friends, your family, is felt quite deeply, don't you?" Klaus' soft voice sounded from behind her.

She wiped away the tears that she hadn't realized that were falling from her eyes as she turned around and met his gaze. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I was going to send Myriam a message but I was indisposed for a few days, and now I'm working."

"You are?"

"Hmm," she nodded. "I felt that I needed to make him pay for what he did. But don't worry, I'm not hurt, he didn't hurt me. In fact, he's really nice."

"Of course he is," Klaus smiled at her, but she could see the worry in his eyes. "Well, enjoy the party and your date. I shall not interfere or alert our mutual friend that you're here. I'm here if you need me."

She was shocked at his words. "You're not going to drag me by the hair and force me to go home?"

"You're safe, that's all that matters. Were you planning on going back home with him?"

"Maybe, it depends on how he'll treat me at this party of yours," she said playfully. "Perhaps I could persuade the artist of these glorious paintings to make me a better offer?"

"No persuasion needed. Enjoy your night out, Isa, I'm certainly going to do that myself now that I can breathe a little bit better."

She couldn't believe him. Was he really leaving all of this up to her? "Make the offer when you feel like it and I shall send my date home after returning his money," she gently put her hand on his arm and squeezed it before excusing herself and went to find Lucien.

"What was that all about? Do you know Niklaus?" Lucien asked confused. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine," she smiled up at him. "We have mutual friends. Had I known you were going to take me to his party, I would have definitely packed more condoms in my purse. Are you going to buy me a drink?"

"I will buy you a drink, but then you'll have to explore the gallery a bit on your own, I do need to talk to Niklaus for a moment or two."

Bella pouted. "You're no fun."

"I want to reminisce a little, it will be no fun to you because you don't know what we're talking about. Now, be a doll and behave yourself," he said kindly as he pulled her along to the bar to order her a drink. Handing her the glass of wine, he let go of her and playfully smacked her ass. "Off you pop."

"Asshole," Bella muttered as she walked away. "Men are such pigs. It's a good thing they have money but ugh."

"I heard that, love."

"I know you did, _dear_ ," Bella smiled at Lucien as she looked over her shoulder before making her way to the other side of the room to create the idea of privacy between Klaus and Lucien.


	11. Cupid's Vodka

**A/N:** It's the weekend! Here, have another chapter!

* * *

She hated Klaus. Oh, she hated him so much and yes, he'd been right, it was either her or the club, but she hated him so much. And she hated his brother, as he wanted to 'meet' in the fanciest restaurant of New Orleans and she was currently sipping from a glass that contained some very expensive wine as she silently watched Elijah Mikaelson watch her in fascination.

Myriam was sick with worry about Bella's disappearance and here she was, 'meeting' Elijah Mikaelson. The stuck up Mikaelson brother who did nothing but hamper most of Klaus' ideas, who did nothing but belittle him, baby him, all in the name of the fear that the mighty hybrid might get out of control.

Before Klaus rescued her, she had often watched the Mikaelsons parade around New Orleans as if they owned the place. They basically did. Rebekah had always been so beautiful in her dresses, Elijah always so sharply dressed and Klaus a bit somewhere in between. She had often fantasized about meeting them, thinking that Klaus was the more approachable one and Elijah being more like Mr. Jenkins, or Jacques. Strict. Evil.

So the stories that Klaus told her about his brother made sense. Elijah Mikaelson was a control freak and Myriam hated control freaks - other than herself, she was a control freak and this 'meeting' was a recipe for disaster.

"Miss Jenkins, I'm well aware that you're worried about your friend Bella, but you're here with me and you don't seem to be enjoying yourself," Elijah eventually said after watching Myriam down two glasses of wine. "This is not a business meeting."

"Then what is it?"

"I believe that we're on a date," he said smugly and raised his glass to toast the air and take a sip of his wine. "We're currently drinking a 600 dollar bottle of wine while we're waiting for our food to arrive and usually, that would make any woman more susceptible in the feeling of feeling joyous."

She blinked at that. He really was this stuck up asshole, wasn't he? A pompous one at that, flaunting his wealth, stroking his ego. "PF Chang's would have been fine. McDonald's even."

"Please, you're a woman of class, you deserve to be taken to a restaurant as this."

Myriam let out a snort and shook her head. "You honestly think that me, a glorified madam, am a woman of class? Wow, your standards must be really low." When she saw the confusion on his face, she smiled at him. "I usually get paid for dates like these, you know, expensive restaurant, some drinking, some foreplay…"

"Would it make you feel more comfortable if I'd pay you for your time?"

"In this place?" She gestured around her. "Mr. Mikaelson, you said you believed we're on a date. I don't date. I haven't had a _date_ for centuries. You pay, I play."

"Or, you could just leave," he said simply, an amused smile dancing on his lips. "But then we'll have to meet at your club and I'd really like to get involved in that business."

"Why? Why are you so interested in what I've built? What I'm doing? Is it because of your brother? Is that it? Jealousy, because he's done something right?"

Elijah sighed as he checked to see if his tie was still straight. "It's no secret that the supernatural community is quite the diverse group of people roaming this Earth. The humans have their shelters for the abused but I never once thought that perhaps someone should start a shelter, a safe haven, for the humans getting abused by people like us. We more often than not leave devastation in our wake or abuse our power. I find that admirable and I wish to support you in this endeavour, just as my brother has done and continues to do."

"Yeah, no. Not going to happen. We've been doing alright and don't need your help. Now, conversation about what I do to give back to the humans is over," she said curtly as she took another sip of her wine. "We shall not discuss my friendship with your brother, either. And for the love of everything that's holy, we do not discuss your family issues. I'm not a therapist."

"Does this mean you'll stay?"

"I don't want you involved in my business, so I suppose I have no choice in the matter," she said as she looked to see the waiter come with their appetizers. "But make no mistake, Mr. Mikaelson, I'm not here voluntarily."

He swallowed his delicious piece of food and smiled at her. "Very well, Miss Jenkins, what do you do to relax?"

~o.O.o~

While her _date_ was talking to Klaus, Bella moved through the exhibition and took in every painting. She knew the stories behind them, Klaus had told every single one of them and unknown to all of the people in the Infirmary, he was laying his soul bare for all to see. Klaus was showing his softer side, his fragility, his humanity.

And it was beautiful. She wanted to push a knife through the art critic's chest as he was quite negative about Klaus' work and didn't understand why Klaus hadn't compelled him to speak nothing but praise about the paintings, but perhaps that was also a reason why he didn't. Klaus wanted his art to be enjoyed or hated, unspoiled by any kind of influence.

Klaus once told her why he loved to paint. He found it a metaphor of control, everything on the canvas was his choice, done by his hand, with the colors he choose. Whenever he felt that he was losing control, painting was his therapy. His soul and heart was in each and every one of those paintings and she wished that the critic would see at least that. If he was as good as everyone around her claimed to be, he would have seen it and not the fact that the work was 'derivative'.

Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if Klaus either taught the master the critic thought it was derivative of or he would have been taught by the master. "Well, I think they're beautiful," she let out a breath as she spoke quietly as she happened to be in the vicinity of the critic.

The critic looked at her in disdain. "Well of course you'd think it's beautiful, you're obviously uncultured."

Bella looked up to him with a big smile. "Bob? Is that you? Oh my god! How are you! I haven't seen you in a very long time!"

Bob the critic turned beet red. "Uhm…"

"You definitely have to come by sometime, I believe I still have the pair of glasses you left behind, they look so sexy on me by the way, and you still need to lick my boots clean," she pulled his head down and pecked his cheek. "Call me. Soon." She then hit his ass playfully and made her way to the bar where she saw both Klaus and Lucien look at her with their mouths open in shock. "Close those mouths before something flies in there and get me a drink." She sat down on a chair and let out a deep breath and eagerly threw back the tequila shot that was placed in front of her. "That was fun."

"That was my art critic."

"I know, right?" She smiled widely. "He used to be a regular but I haven't seen him in a while. Great tipper. Not a lot of stamina."

Klaus narrowed his eyes on Bella. He didn't like her work persona very much, he never had, but never had to experience her in full on work mode. This was torture. A familiar scent wafted in and he excused himself. He needed to talk to Camille.

"So," Bella said as she scooted over to Lucien and ran her hand up his arm. "Did you two catch up yet? Want to watch the paintings with me?"

"No, pet, I need him to come with us to the penthouse so Alexis can show him what kind of danger we all are in," Lucien said bitterly as he strained his ears to overhear the conversation his sire was having with this Camille.

Bella didn't like the sound of that. "Threesome? Foursome?" She said hopefully. "You know that it would cost you more if we're going to do that. Not to mention, likely a new bed, you vampires tend to forget that you're super strong when you're in the moment." She ran her hand up his arm and rested her hand in his neck where she toyed with his hair. "Why take me out on a date when you're not even having fun? Is it me?"

Lucien ignored her as he continued to listen Camille tell Klaus about this murder victim.

Sighing, Bella let go of Lucien and grabbed her purse. "I think I'll walk to the penthouse and wait for you there while you conclude your business. I can tell that I'm not wanted here."

"You are not going to walk home all alone, Isa," Lucien said as he took hold of her arm as she was leaving. "Give me fifteen more minutes. Then we'll leave."

She looked at his hand that was holding on to her and then up to him. "Let go of me or I'll scream rape," she hissed. Lucien let go of her and she nodded. "Fifteen more minutes and hope that someone doesn't make me a better offer."

She walked up to a server to get a glass of champagne and walked back to the paintings, making sure to stay out of Klaus and Cami's way. This was going to be a long night. Maybe she should lift someone's phone to call Myriam because Lucien's chance of getting laid tonight was getting slimmer and slimmer by all the remarks that he made and how he treated her. Klaus didn't seem to be in a hurry to bail her out either.

Bob gave her a wide berth, which was hilarious. She found a spot where she could keep an eye on him wherever he went and she liked seeing him squirm. It was the best she could do, all she wanted currently was to curl up on her couch in her fluffy pyjamas after a good soak in a very hot bath and watch Toe The Line.

But, it was likely that she was going to have to face the wrath of Myriam first.

Much to her surprise, half an hour later they were at the penthouse. Lucien, Klaus and her and Lucien was introducing Alexis to Klaus. "Isa, be a dear and go to the bedroom, this business doesn't involve you," Lucien instructed her. "I'll join you shortly, I'm afraid that Alexis will need some time to recover and won't be joining us."

Klaus was forcing himself not to react to the scene in front of him. He understood that Bella was in work mode, but he didn't like it one bit. And the idea of Lucien having sex with _his_ Bella sickened him and he wanted to push his fist into his cavity and rip out Lucien's heart. However, if there was a possibility that there was a threat against him and his family, he needed to know. Would he make Bella a better offer now, chances were that he wasn't going to get what he wanted.

"Careful with believing what she says," Bella said as she kicked off her shoes. "She's one hell of a storyteller and doesn't really think things true." She swung open the bedroom door and sat down on the bed, looking into the living room with her arms crossed over her chest. She wasn't even going to bother to look sexy until Lucien paid attention to her.

Lucien rolled his eyes as he removed Alexis' shawl, revealing her wearing a very daring cocktail dress. "Alexis is no back-alley palm-reader. She's an expert cipher- patterns, trends, cycles... She does exceptionally well on the stock market, and never fails to guess the winner of The Bachelorette."

Alexis smiled as she seductively made her way over to Klaus, caressing his chest with the palm of her hand before resting it on his chest as she intensely looked at him.

"Bit forward, isn't she?"

"I've heard so much about you. The famous hybrid. Your ancient heart beats strong indeed for someone in such danger. If you wish to get the full experience, I suggest you feed from me while I prophesize, to see the images connect to the words." She brushed her hair to the side to expose her neck to him while Lucien lifted her wrist to his mouth.

"It's been far too long since we shared a proper drink, Niklaus."

He looked over to Bella, who sat there on the bed with her eyebrows raised. He never snacked on a human in front of her. He wasn't sure if Myriam ever did, but this was a part of him that he didn't want her to get involved in. Sure, she knew he needed blood to survive but drinking in front of her almost made him feel ashamed of what he was. He currently didn't have a choice in the matter. Letting out a breath, he sunk his teeth into Alexis' neck.

"Drink deep, but beware- what you broke is past repair. All your oaths you betrayed, your sacred vows you've severed. And now you see that nothing last for always and forever. Three yet remain, two already crossed- yet, in one year's time, you'll all be lost. As your family is undone, you will seed the beast that is to come." Alexis' voice sounded deeper, distorted as she was in some sort of trance, but snapped out of it once the prophecy was told and the vampires stopped drinking from her.

Klaus was angry and grabbed Alexis by the throat. "You think you can fool me with bad poetry and parlor tricks?"

She smiled lightly in return. "My visions are conjured from you. The threat you face will be more clear the longer I am in your presence. Kill me, and you'll never see what's coming."

Klaus looked over to Lucien and released her with a scowl on his face. "What did you pay for the whore in your bedroom?"

"$500?"

He marched into the bedroom and took Bella's hand. "I'll offer you double."

"Hold on!" Lucien stammered. "She's mine!"

"Then make a better offer," Bella smiled sweetly. "I know you have more, because you already paid me $5000."

Klaus was surprised to hear that, but tried not to show it. He was certain he was going to hear the entire story soon enough.

"I'll double his offer."

"Eh," Bella said with a shrug and looked up to the hybrid. "You can have me for your original offer, good sir. Lucien hasn't been the most pleasant date. He had the nerve to call me his pet." She then pointed to Victoria's head on the shelf above the door. "Look what he did."

"Well, that's one worry out of the way, well done, Lucien."

"What's going on?"

"Your friend is taking me home," Bella let go of Klaus and made her way over to Lucien. "But thank you for killing Victoria for me," she said as she tiptoed to kiss his cheek. "I'd say that I enjoyed spending time with you but since we've only known each other for two days…"

"You were gone for nearly five, love." Klaus reminded her.

"Oh yes, I told you I was indisposed," she reminded him before scooping up her bag and joining his side again.

"Let's go home," he smiled at her, irritation towards Alexis and Lucien still evident in his voice, but at least he was going to take his girl home.

"Nik, forget the whore for a second," Lucien said as he didn't move from where he was to stop his sire from leaving. "I told you something was wrong. You'll need me."

Growling, he let go of Bella and threw Lucien against the wall. "I am Klaus Mikaelson! I don't need anyone, nor will I be warned by lesser men!" he shouted as he made his way over and pulled Lucien up by his collar until he was just inches away from his face. "I am the thing that lesser men fear," he added in a whisper.

"Then act like it," Lucien smirked as he pushed Klaus away and got to his feet. "Instead of doting on your pretty human girls and pouting about your family's disapproval! Yes, you are Klaus Mikaelson! You are the most ruthless, wicked beast to ever live! I came here to remind you of that. Because, quite frankly, I've been worried that you've lost a step." He then pointed at Isa. "Case and point."

"Leave her out of this, Lucien!" Klaus warned him with a growl. "I need no reminding of who I am. That truth has been clear to me for a thousand years."

"And, in those years, you've acquired countless enemies. And, with the sirelines at war, you now have mine as well. Anyone who would kill me can now come after you. And, since I have so many rivals, and because I do not want to die, I beg you- let me help you! From now on, I'm the only one you can trust!"

Klaus didn't say anything and gently took Bella's hand before pulling her towards the door. He didn't trust Lucien. In fact, he didn't trust anyone but himself, and perhaps Bella, but that was it. However, he was sure as hell going to find out if this prophecy was true. Any threat against him and his family - how ludacris and out there it may seem, was a threat. However, right now, his only concern was Bella and get her home. He was itching to kill something. Someone. He needed to get Bella home so it wouldn't be her.

~o.O.o~

Bella felt as if she was dragged to the principal's office. Klaus didn't speak the entire way, just made sure they kept moving towards Débauche and she could feel his anger in his body language. She also knew that it wasn't directed to her persé but she couldn't help but to feel as if he was a walking timebomb.

She stopped him a corner away from the club. "You need to relax otherwise the doormen won't let you inside, no matter that you're Klaus Mikaelson. You look like you could snap someone's neck."

"Frankly I feel like tearing someone apart limb from limb."

"Then do it."

He paused, his tongue running over his lips as his eyes looked anywhere but at her before he slowly turned to face her. His hands reached up to bury his fingers in her hair as he let out a shaky breath, and shook his head. "Love, I can't. You're with me."

"That's no excuse," she put her hand on his cheek and smiled at him. "There's a group of purse snatchers in the alley across the street, I'm sure nobody will miss them."

His lips curled at the corner of his mouth at her words. "You are condoning my committing murder? For no other reason than the fact that I simply have an urge to kill?"

"Look," she caressed his arm with her other hand. "I have no problem with you being who you are. You're a vampire. You kill people. That's what you do. Or what you should do. I admire your restraint, Klaus, but you are on edge. And they are criminals. Not tiny babies or innocent women. I don't have a problem with you tearing apart criminals and making this city a little bit safer for us humans," she then scrunched her nose as if she remembered something. "I think I had a bigger problem with _them_ killing Bambi than you killing people, how fucked up is that?"

Klaus kissed the top of her head with a smile. "We've never discussed this side of me before, and I think that we should. I also think that I owe you an apology and I shall do my best to do that when we get home. We should also have another talk."

"I'm good with talking all night," she nodded.

"Good, now, let's go inside the club, say hi to Myriam and pack you a bag so you can come home."

Bella looked at him, shocked, as she went over his words. "Wait, what?"

"I want you home, with me, where you belong."

"But… but what about our talk?"

"We'll do that once you've settled in."

"But what about my apartment?"

"You pack what you need now, and we'll get your other trinkets another day. Bella, you don't belong there. You'll be well protected at the compound."

"What about my job?"

"We'll discuss that later."

"Klaus!"

"I'm not hearing you refuse coming to live with me," he said playfully, his anger had somewhat disappeared by her speech, her heart, her warmth. "Let's go tell Myriam you're in one piece."


	12. I choose you

Oh, it was exactly like being called to the principal's office, but more like… What ever they had been called for to the office was so severe that they had to go to the principal's house. Myriam opened her apartment door in shock, looking at Bella, then at Klaus, back at Bella again. "You don't call, you don't write…"

"Yeah well… I don't have a phone and I didn't have a wifi signal," Bella retorted with a shrug. "Oh and I was passed out for days due to a witch."

"What?" Myriam said concerned, pulling Bella inside the apartment and removed her coat to check her over. "My god, what are you wearing?"

"I decided to turn my predicament in a working one," Bella said shrugging as she sighed and allowed Myriam to look for bumps and bruises. She looked in her purse and grabbed the money and sighed. "Damn, I forgot something. The asshole still has my blood."

The vampire reared back at that, her head swinging back to look at Klaus as she held onto the girl's arms, her grip tightening slightly. "Who? How did they get her blood? What did you do now?"

He chuckled as he waved a finger at her. "Oh no. This is partially your fault. Had you not assisted in driving _Isa_ away, she never would have fallen into their hands. As far as obtaining Bella's blood, it would seem that an _old friend's witch_ had stolen it after incapacitating her."

Myriam gently moved Bella aside as she squared herself in front of Klaus. "What _old friend_?"

"Oh, Bella's newest client. My first sire, Lucien," he almost smiled before spitting out his name. "I'm still not quite sure how the two met…" he added, his gaze shifting to the girl. "Care to tell us a story, Love?"

Bella rubbed her arms as she sighed. "I was in an alley checking what money I had left and I saw this guy assaulting another guy and I told him to stop. He tried to compel me. That obviously didn't work, so we went for a drink."

Klaus couldn't help but frown, knowing that for a vampire as old as Lucien, he too would have heard some whispers of what Bella might be. He was no fool, especially to survive this long. "This could be a complication," he mused to himself.

"He then took me to his penthouse because I didn't have anyplace to go - no offense, Myriam, but I didn't want to come back to you and allowed me to crash on his couch. Well, he offered the bed but I was comfortable. The next day I woke up and his witch and I had a chat," Bella continued and shrugged. "No offense, but that girl is batshit crazy. She said she knew what I was and that I was something supernatural and when turned into a vampire I could become even more powerful. She forgot that upon turning, you lose your magical shit so yeah, I laughed at that, wanted to leave and she knocked me out."

Myriam swallowed as she looked to Klaus again, fear in her eyes. "You don't think…? Maybe she should just turn and be done..."

"It's her choice, Myriam. Not ours."

"What the fuck are you two on about?" Bella said angrily. "Have you been hiding something from me? Something that concerns me?"

Klaus looked down, hesitated as his hands itched to grab something around him. "Yes, and no. We didn't tell you because we weren't sure and are still looking for confirmation before we came to you with the details. All we've had to go on were simply rumors and myths, so I wanted proof to hand you…"

She looked at the faces of the two vampires in front of her, both having defeated looks on their faces. She trusted Klaus. He was probably going to tear that prophecy apart and see if it was true or not. "Okay, until then, all I want to know if I'm a danger to you."

His blue eyes raised to hers quickly and he shook his head succinctly. "No. Not to us."

"Did you decide to take me as one of the shelter girls because of what I could possibly be or because I truly needed help?" She asked Myriam.

"You needed help. Neither of us realized the possibility until later, after we'd gotten to know you. It only made us want to ensure your safety even more," the woman answered quietly. "Just because you might be - powerful, you still have a target on you until you are capable of defending yourself. That's just from one set of enemies that would know about you existing."

"Lucien killed a tracker called Victoria. But I was in the open for quite some time so…" Bella shrugged. "It's fine. I know that my days are probably numbered anyway. Best to go out with no hard feelings and fun, huh?"

Klaus ran a hand over his face, frustrated by her suicidal words. "We will keep giving you blood and it will be your decision if you continue to transition if that is the case. And we will find a way to get your blood back from Lucien. Cold Ones are not your only concern in this world, Bella. For now, let's pack you your bag and we can continue this discussion at home."

Myriam looked at Klaus. "Excuse me? She _is_ home. She's not going anywhere, especially after the last few days!"

"She and I have some unfinished business. I'd be more comfortable with her at my side, Myriam," he responded evenly as he maintained his gaze on Bella.

"Bella…"

"Leave me out of this," she said as she threw her hands in the air and headed for the door. "I'm going to change into something less constraining and pack my bag. Again. Maybe get the bigger bag this time, I don't know," she muttered to herself as she left the apartment.

"What did you do?" Myriam hissed at Klaus. "She's safer here!"

He blinked as he narrowed his eyes on her. "You wanted me to fix things with her. I am working on it. What do you want from me, Myriam? If you want me to tell her how I feel, then it is going to be the truth. And the truth is, I want her at the compound. With me."

"You want to put her at further risk by having her around you? What about Elijah? What would he think about this?"

Klaus smiled slightly at the mention of his brother. "Yes. What of Elijah? No doubt he would learn of her existence eventually. Tell me, Myriam. How did your _date_ fare? Was my brother the proper gentleman that he proclaims himself to be?"

Myriam sneered. "He took me to this posh place where I had to drink very expensive wine that tasted like the gutter, eat mini portions of food that no doubt set him back quite some money and next week, we're going to have dinner at McDonald's."

His mouth fell open mockingly. "Oh the horror! Myriam Jenkins attended a venue above her tastes…" At the mention of a follow up date, he simply stared back at her in shock, and completely speechless. "...another date?"

"I found out that if you set boundaries with him, such as topics we do not discuss under any circumstance, he can be quite agreeable. And since this…" she gestured to her body. "Is out of business for you, you can't tell me what to do anymore. I'm going on another date with your brother, deal with it."

"You're dating his brother now?" Bella's voice sounded. "Isn't that… weird? Seeing as you fucked Klaus on a weekly basis before he got too busy for us?"

Klaus let out a low growl as he turned to take the bag from her hand. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders to turn her around to leave, he was anxious to escape now. "Again, a discussion we will have shortly. Circumstances between my brother and Myriam simply took an unexpected turn. I have no doubt that we will be seeing her again soon at home," he murmured to her softly, disturbed by the thought.

"What if your family doesn't agree with this? With me coming to live with you?"

"Do not concern yourself with them. I will handle it. While we may still be on the outs, I truly do not believe they would take it out on you. If Elijah were to say something, then simply let me know. Considering his level of interest he's been expressing in Myriam, I believe all it would take is a whisper to her that he's been giving you a hard time and all would be well," he smiled at her.

Bella nodded as she followed him in some silence. "I loved seeing your paintings," she said softly. "I think they're all beautiful and that you took a hell of a risk baring your soul like that, for everyone to see."

Klaus' pulled her in gently to him in response but said nothing else. He hadn't known what to say as they made their way through the streets at a human pace. Passing a pub, he paused for a moment. "I hadn't noticed if you'd eaten yet or not. Do you wish to stop, Isabella?"

"I had some of those hors d'oeuvres at your party, I'm good. Work mode usually prevents me from eating anyway." Just as she spoke, her stomach started to growl. "Did you have to bring up food? Now I'm hungry. I didn't eat for like… days."

He smiled at that and pulled her into the Irish pub. "A good thing about places like these is that they still serve some warm, comfort food. We don't have a chef at home at this hour."

"Klaus, I can make my own sandwich."

"Please indulge me?" He put the bags down on the floor and pulled out a chair for her. He had such a hopeful look on his face that she simply couldn't resist and sat down. He sat down across the table from her and simply looked at her. They had gotten lucky. Well, not really because she still ended up in the arms of Lucien, but it could have been worse.

"What?"

"I'm grateful that you're still here, that's all," he replied. "But please, the next time you feel as if you need to run away from something, come to me."

"What good would that have done if I don't know where you live? It is against the rules," she reminded him with a frown.

"Ah, yes, but a little birdie told me that she met you. You could have asked her to call me."

Bella rolled her eyes as she sat back in her chair, her fingers playing with the napkin on the table. "You made it clear to me that day you didn't want me. Why would I have looked for you?"

"I had hoped we would have had this conversation at home, but I suppose we could do it here…" he said hesitantly. "I would have thought, that despite what I said to you, that you'd still think of me as your friend."

"I was quite pissed, you know," she replied. "I still am, but I think I get it. Especially after talking to your Camille."

He nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Do you now? What is it that you think you believe? Tell me and then please allow me to correct where she may have confused you - and I."

"I believe that our conversation that night should have started differently, but even then, I'm pretty sure you would have pushed me away even after I told you how I feel about you," she said carefully. "Because you think I have enough on my plate already and didn't want me to get caught up in your troubles. You wanted to protect me from that. You still do, but there's no escaping it. However," she continued as she let out a breath. "Even humans have their baggage, their shit, and if they get together as a couple, it gets merged as well, so why would this be any different?"

Klaus nodded again, leaning forward on the table so that he could keep his voice low as he looked around the room briefly. An instinct for potential threats. "You are correct. I mostly likely would have done much of the same, pushing you away no matter how the situation had presented itself that day. You must understand, Bella, from my perspective, that the baggage I carry tends to get those that I care for, killed. Even now, you are much too vulnerable and it is difficult to maintain my focus with everything. And now Lucien's new babbles that I need to have someone look into - to make sure that it isn't some fairy tale that he isn't spouting off. You've been taking Myriam's blood and I sired her so if you were turned and according to that ridiculous story..."

She put her hands on his and smiled. "I'm not afraid of death, Klaus. I'm not like any other human. I'm slightly insane and in case you've forgotten, I know how to take care of myself. I managed to outrun the most gifted Cold Ones for five years before I grew tired of it."

"Myriam would like you to turn now, but I know you. I know you'd want that choice for yourself, as much as I - agree with her," he whispered, unable to look her in the eye.

"You want me to be less fragile."

"Yes."

She caressed the top of his hand with her thumb as she hesitated. "Would you… still feel the same about me if I turned?"

He let out a sigh. "Of course I would. Why would you ask such a preposterous question? I would not have offered you my blood as often as I had if I didn't want to give you the opportunity of immortality." He reached for the glass of bourbon that the waitress set down as he waited for her response.

She smiled at that. "You know of my wish to be a vampire, you know what Edward put me through. I don't have to marry you first, do I?"

Klaus had started to take a sip and nearly choked, coughing.

Bella grinned as she got the wanted response. "I'm kidding," she laughed. "I just wanted to see your reaction."

"Bloody hell! Can't we simply discuss your moving to the compound and turning first? I confess I lied that day but I hardly see either of us as entering the discussion of nuptials. That is something more to Elijah's impulses…"

"I know you did. And I understand why you did, not at first, but after talking to Cami I realized what you had done. I may be human, Klaus, but I'm not her. She may have stumbled into the supernatural world, but I dived in, head first, knowing that I'd get some trouble on the way," she replied, giving his hands a gentle squeeze. "I may have acted out after you denied me, but -"

He drew in a breath again, staring at her. Turning his hands around to grip hers, he tried to give her a reassuring smile. "You did what you had to, to protect yourself. I warned Myriam to let you be. However, as we had said back at the club, we've been waiting on information about you and if we learn something I _will_ tell you. But, if you are what we may believe, then you were born into the supernatural world. Not just diving into it, Sweetheart."

"Speaking of what happened at the club… Why did you two get so upset about Alexis having some of my blood? I know the rules, I should never offer it voluntarily but I have offered it to Myriam. I have offered it to some vampire clients that I had. Sometimes, an extremely thirsty vampire would visit the club and Myriam told me to go to my apartment, afraid that he might attack me or something. I drank yours and Myriam's blood, why didn't you ever drink from me? What is it about my blood? Is it toxic? Disgusting? Only good for Cold Ones?"

Klaus shook his head as he tried to think of the best way to tell her his suspicions. "Do you recall my telling you of the doppelgangers? Of how rare their occurrences are?"

"I do," she said a little warily.

"What you may be, is even more so," he admitted, his voice full of agitation at saying the words. "Which makes your blood nearly as valuable as my own. However all we are going on is myths, whispers of stories. We're still looking for confirmations of facts that the stories are true. Regardless of fact or fiction, we decided to err on the side of caution for you and strongly encourage you _not_ to share your blood with anyone. Not even ourselves. Which is why we refused you so many times. Your blood would be too tempting. Trust me, Love. You do smell - delicious. But I prefer you in other ways."

She smiled at that. "So basically my blood sings to you as well?"

He didn't smile at that. He couldn't because it stuck too close to the truth. "That is not funny, and I am not a Cold One, Love."

"But what would happen to all of that if I turned?"

"It grows stronger, as does your strength. Supposedly. Again, tales."

She took a sip of her water and smiled at him as options went through her head. "Okay. Well, if you're still feeling the urge to kill someone, you have my permission to kill me after dinner."

"No. Not like that," Klaus denied, pulling his hands apart from hers and shook his head. "I'll just take you home, get you set up then go question my brother on his intentions with Myriam. Right ol' blood bath between brothers!"

"We'll probably end up as best man and maid of honor," she said with a sour expression on her face.

"Not before she shoves his balls down his throat for trespassing," he pointed out. "He will have to get past that and she does not forgive easily. I know him. He won't let up easily on his pursuit of being involved with the business."

"Myriam's stubborn as hell. She's doing a great job, no need for another- wait. Can I still do my job when I live with you? Like… doing her administration? Maybe dance? I won't do clients anymore, I promise but… or do you wish for me to seek something else?"

His fist curled on the table before moving it underneath to his lap at the mention of continuing to work until she said that she'd stop seeing clients. "If you want to continue working for Myriam, I have no problem with it. Except I would prefer you out of the public eye now…" he said carefully, eyeing her reaction. "I don't wish to force you, but the thought of other men, seeing you-"

"I'll find something else to do," she assured him with a smile. "Maybe I'll just spent my days in your bed, naked, waiting for you to come to me while I keep your bed warm."

Klaus raised an eyebrow as his lips curled. "I wouldn't mind that but I believe you would find that dreadfully boring. Perhaps you can discuss something with Freya when we return home."

"Hey!" she playfully kicked him under the table. "I'm not going to have sex with your sister. I'm yours. Yours alone. No one else."

"I'm not suggesting that you sleep with my sister. Thank you though for that clarification," he blinked, shaking his head as he attempted to get _that_ image out of his head. "I simply meant that you might be able to assist her magic and research. She may be able to help with your singer lore. I have not spoken to her about it, but it's time we bring the family in as we may need them until you turn."

Bella nodded as she eyed the huge portion of Shepherd's Pie appear in front of her and smelled it. "Oh wow, that smells so good!" She then looked at him. "You're not having anything?"

"I have a different meal in mind when we get home," he smiled wolfishly, winking. "Enjoy, Love."

After she finished her food, and they both finished their drinks, Klaus paid for their food and they continued to walk to her new home while she felt as if she could explode. She hadn't thought she could finish all of the food, but she had, and now she was full. A walk would do her some good, indeed. She had a lot of information to process, new information, new ideas, new thoughts, but she was glad that Klaus wasn't angry with her or was pushing her away. In fact, he was doing everything he could to draw her in even further. He was very open towards her, he usually was, but this time he didn't hold back. He gave her facts, he was honest, and it was like she got to see a whole new side of him, one that he usually saved for Myriam only.

She smiled at that. This meant that he truly liked her and wanted to fully include her. Next step: surviving Klaus telling his siblings that she was moving in.


	13. Home

She couldn't believe her eyes. Sure, Klaus had told her that his home was spacious, but to have an enclosed courtyard? It was huge! A set of stairs lead to the first floor and she knew that his study was up there as he had often spoken about looking out of his window and observe the happenings in the building.

It was late and there was no sound other than a crying baby and the sound of Freya trying to soothe her. "Come on," Klaus said as he lead her along, climbing the stairs to his living area, finding Freya bouncing the crying baby up and down. He dropped Bella's bags and let go of her before taking Hope from Freya and the baby immediately shut up. "There you go," he said kindly. "You should be asleep, young lady," he cooed as he made his way over to Bella. "But since you're awake, allow me to introduce you to someone just as special as you are," he said as he kissed the top of his daughter's head.

Freya didn't know what to say. There was no greeting, no hello - then again, Klaus never greeted her when he came home, and he had brought Bella. Weren't there rules against this? Eager to see how this played out, she quietly sat down in a chair and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hope, meet Bella," he spoke to the baby. "Bella, meet my daughter Hope."

"Hi," Bella had completely forgotten about Hope. Klaus had showed her a picture last week, but she had forgotten about her. When the girl's arms stretched out to Bella, Klaus turned her around so that Bella could hold her, but she was afraid. "Uhm…"

"It's alright, Hope is an excellent judge of character."

"She's a baby and…"

He carefully placed Hope in Bella's arms. The moment she was there, Hope grabbed a loose strand of hair and put it in her mouth before closing her eyes and drifted off in a deep slumber. "And you're a natural," he smiled warmly.

"Great," Freya remarked from her chair. "You brought her to take over nanny duties to relieve your siblings? That is just great, thank you, brother."

"Bella's not the nanny, Freya."

"So, then what? You're making Bella her new step-mother?"

"No," both Bella and Klaus said, Bella carefully shaking her head, not wanting to disturb the girl who was now quiet and sleeping with Bella's hair in her mouth.

Freya eyed the two, crossing her arms. "Then what is this? Because this child needs her mother. Not a substitute. While we can assist as her family, she will need her mother."

"Exactly," Bella said as she nudged Klaus with her elbow. "But you're going to work on that, aren't you? Fix things for Hope? I know you have a lot on your mind right now but she does need her mother."

He drew in a long sigh as he looked to his daughter. "Freya doesn't have the power to reverse the spell that Dahlia placed. She has already tried. You already know about the new regent…"

"Yes, but now she can try with my blood."

"We've discussed this, Isabella," he stressed.

"Yes, we have, but this is for your family, _Niklaus_."

"Hayley and her brethren can wait a little longer while we find an alternate solution."

Bella huffed. "Where's Hope's bed so I can put her down? She's getting a little bit heavy. Dead weight and all."

"Oh, no, you have to hold her for quite some time now," Freya said amused. "After the tantrum she just threw she won't be put down that easily."

"Well, seeing as she fell asleep the moment she was in my arms, I'll take my chances." Bella started to walk through the space, followed by Klaus, and eventually found a cot. She gently lowered Hope into the crib and pulled her hair back. "Sweet dreams, little one," she said with a whisper and then turned around to Klaus. "Did I pass your test?"

He smiled slightly and shrugged. "I never had any doubt that she would like you. I was more concerned about my sister's inquisition. Of which I doubt is over," he whispered.

"Well then, she now had plenty of time to call Elijah, so let's face the firing squad," she said as she looped her arm through his. "Don't worry, I've got your back."

"Come. Let's go downstairs and wait. He should be back shortly knowing him."

Bella followed Klaus and they were followed by Freya. "Where are you going? We're not done yet!"

"Relax, Freya, we're going to wait for my big brother to arrive, you know, the one you just called to inform him about my decision of having Bella move in with us," Klaus said amused as he continued to lead Bella out towards the courtyard. It was a little past midnight, but he and Bella had enough juice left in them to face his siblings.

"She's moving in? When did this happen?" Freya questioned. "I didn't know that!"

"Now you do," Klaus replied as he took a blanket from the chest underneath the stairs and wrapped Bella in it before sitting down next to her. "As you're well aware, she was lost for a few days and I will not let that happen again."

"So what does this mean? I can't imagine Myriam letting her go quite easily."

"Ah, first of, it wasn't Myriam's decision, it was Bella's. Secondly, Myriam has a new project," Klaus mused as he watched his brother walk into the courtyard. "And his name is Elijah."

"Wait, what?" Freya blinked as she looked at her younger brother. "Elijah?"

Klaus smirked as he stretched his arm behind Bella. "Our brother fancies her."

"What can I say, Myriam Jenkins is a classy woman," Elijah replied dryly.

Bella couldn't help but to let out a snort. "About as classy as a McDonald's Happy Meal."

"What's this, Niklaus? Brought one of your projects over for the night?"

"Oh, no, this one's staying," Freya said as she walked over to Elijah to stand next to him to look at Klaus and Bella. "Perhaps she'd look more familiar to you if she was covered in bruises, a torn up onesie and tearstained eyes."

Recognition immediately came to Elijah's face and was filled with remorse. Before he could utter a word of apology, his brother was on them and he was with his back against the wall, staring into his hybrid brother's eyes. "Ni-klaus…" he choked out, fingers closing around his throat.

Bella felt sick to her stomach. How did he know? How did Freya know? Had Freya done something? It had been something private, between her and Klaus and they had seen her all battered? She felt the color drain from her face as she hugged her blanket closer.

"Let him go," Freya said as she used her magic to pull Klaus off of his brother and across the courtyard.

Klaus was immediately back on his feet and charging for them, despite his sister's abilities. He was far too angry of the intrusion of one of his and Bella's most vulnerable moments. And the desire to kill was only reignited. This time stronger than ever. "I will kill you where you stand!"

Freya moved herself in front of Elijah and stretched out her hand before twisting it, inflicting pain upon her youngest brother. "You need to calm down and listen, I can explain!"

"Explain more broken promises?!" he gritted out as he fought against the agony. "I let you in on _one_ thing."

"Yes! And I was sick and tired of the animosity between you and Elijah that I decided to show him that there was another side to you because he wasn't hearing my words!" She released him from her hold and pushed him back. "So yes, I took him to Débauche and showed him around. I didn't know what you were going to talk about, or what had happened. I had expected you to be in her room or drinking a coffee with her in the kitchen!"

He remained on his knees glaring up at them. His breaths were heavy and his chest heaved with each inhale. "This is still unforgivable," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet and making his way to Bella as he refused to look at his brother again.

Elijah straightened his suit and scraped his composure back together. While he was still at odds with his brother, he couldn't help but worry for Bella's safety. "Are you feeling that alone now that we're not on the best terms that you felt like you had to bring her here, Niklaus?"

Klaus' hands fisted as he struggled to keep from attacking his brother again.

"Shh, I got this," Bella said as she put a hand on his leg and squeezed it, before getting up and walking towards Elijah, still feeling disgusted by him.

"Love, you don't have to do this," he muttered, tense as he reached back to keep a hand on her so she didn't stray far from him.

"Oh, yes, I have to. He violated me. It's only fair that I get a chance to violate _him_ ," she said angrily as she looked over her shoulder to him and flashed a smile. "Please?"

Klaus canted his head to the side as he eyed her, curious as to her game. "Careful, Sweetheart. You've gone days without my blood."

"I know, but if he knows what's good for him, he won't hurt me or else he'll face the wrath of his _date_ ," she said with a smirk.

At the reference to Myriam, he couldn't help but to smile and leaned in to press his lips to her temple, sending a glare over her head to Elijah. "By all means. Have your say."

She let go of Klaus and walked over to Elijah. As she looked up to him, he looked down on her and used her best doe-eyed, wide smiled, innocent face on him that she usually reserved for some of her clients who were into role play. "You violated me. And your brother. But since that's something between you and him, I want to make one thing clear," she said calmly, still the big smile plastered on her face. "You will not repeat what you've heard, you will not confront us with it," she then looked at Freya.

"This counts for the both of you, by the way, but I don't want to hurt you, Freya, you've been a great help to Myriam and the club." She then looked back at Elijah, who was momentarily distracted. While Bella had nowhere near the strength it would have to take her to do what she had planned to do, she hoped that she could at least inflict enough pain for it to be a lesson to Elijah. Her fist left her side and she hit Elijah hard, in the groin, still having the smile on her face, despite it was obvious that some of the bones broke in her hand. Elijah doubled over momentarily but after taking a breath, he was standing back upright.

"Splendid! Now, how about we call it a night, I give you some of my blood, and we continue our discussion in the morning that we begun during dinner? Hm?" Klaus smiled joyfully.

"Great idea," Bella said as she turned her back to Elijah and walked back to Klaus. "I do have to admit, I can't wait to be able to do more groin damage," she smirked.

"Oh dear god," Freya muttered. "She's a baby Klaus."

He smirked as he buried his nose in Bella's hair once she was in his arms. "Actually, I think she's more like a pocket sized Myriam," he corrected. "Just a lot more fun."

"How about I'm just me?" Bella said as she wrapped her arms around Klaus. "Can we go to bed now?" She pressed herself against him as she looked up to him. "I want to stop imagining what it's like to actually have an entire night in your arms and wake up next to you."

"Yes, let's go and see what that's like," Klaus smiled as he turned her and directed her up the stairs, ignoring his siblings. "Quite the adventure, are you up for that?"

"Are you? Maybe this pocket sized ball of fun is too much for you to handle."

"Never," he laughed as he decided to lift her up and used his vampire speed to get them to his bedroom and gently put her down on the bed. Klaus pinned her down and looked at her for a moment, her eyes were sparkling with excitement and he could feel how her body was heating up in anticipation. "First things first," he said as he bit his hand and to feed her his blood. "Drink up."

She took his hand and pulled it to her lips so she could drink his blood. She looked at him through her lashes as she did, knowing that it was something he liked. His lips slightly parted and his tongue flicked over them to wet them. Once his self inflicted wound was closed, she licked her lips, not breaking eye contact with him. "Happy?"

"Yes," he said huskily as he started to kiss her neck, burying his hands into her hair as he pinned her body to the bed with his own. He inhaled her scent, but found it slightly offputting that she still smelled a lot like Lucien despite having changed her clothes, and he was going to make it his mission to make her smell like him before falling asleep.

Impatient, he used his speed to undress them both, and he basked in the glory of her nakedness. "Forgive me, I no longer can contain my patience," he whispered as he looked into her beautiful, hopeful, eyes.

"Come here," she said softly as she pulled him close, kissing him hard as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him even closer. She dug her nails into his back as he pressed his groin against her core, wet and aching for him. Despite the seriousness of their talk that night, everything that happened during the day had been foreplay, the sexual tension between them had been so thick, not even a knife could cut through it. And all she wanted now, was him to fill her, claim her as his, and his alone.

Gasping for air, she broke off the kiss and ran her nails over his scalp. "Take me. No foreplay, no prolonged plays, just take me," she whispered as she brushed her lips with his. "Please."

He smiled at that and managed to loosen the hold she had on him. "Oh, but love," he said as he started to kiss her jaw, down to her neck and on to her torso, leaving a trail of him all over her. "I thought it would be more fun if I'd kiss you all over before all of that, why cut to the chase?" He added teasingly.

Oh, he wasn't going to. He was going to do exactly what she had just told him to do, because if he had to be honest, he couldn't wait either. They had the rest of their lives to do things slowly, right now, all that mattered was for them to feel connected.

He swirled his tongue around her nipple, causing her body to arch into him and shifted a little so that he had easier access to her. It was hard not to giggle like a little school girl, this was the first time he was going to have sex - no, make love - with Bella in his own bed. Not hers. not on one of the beds in the tiny rooms, but his own. Theirs, now. Repeating his action on her other perfectly shape breast, he took advantage of her body being distracted and pushed himself inside of her, causing her to whimper at first before she let out a drawn out moan.

He had taken her by surprise, literally, and it felt so damn good. She had missed him filling her so perfectly, so precise. She had missed him taking the lead in bed as she was usually the leader and she was more than willing to give everything to him. Every inch, every fibre in her body, every breath. She was pretty sure that her sharp nails were drawing blood from him as her hands held on to him and gasped when his teeth scraped over her collarbone.

His hands were on her back now as her body uncontrollably sought more connection to him, she could feel him shift a little to accommodate for the new position and she could feel him slide in even deeper. Once he was in, nice and snug, she reminded herself that she needed to breathe. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he shifted again, waiting for her to tell him to continue. "Oh, you feel so good inside me," she managed to let out, only to moan again when the chain around his neck brushed her erect nipple. "Oh, it's still a torture instrument," she murmured as she threw her head back when her body took yet another step closer to the edge of bliss.

Letting out a snort, he started to kiss her along the vein of her neck, and gently placed her down on the bed again, careful not to break the contact between their bodies. "Are you ready, my love?" The expression on her face was delirious, ecstatic. There was no way she was going to be able to be coherent.

"Uh," she said, as her eyes had difficulty focussing on him. "Yes?"

"Want me to stop?"

"No!" Hell no, if he'd stop now, she'd be in agony. She wanted to be released, feel free, feel him come inside of her, feel everything and him. Desperately. She could feel how he started to move inside of her, she wrapped her legs around his waist to make sure he kept doing what he was doing and held on to him, ready for the epic conclusion of their first journey as… what? Being together? Lovers? Boy and girlfriend? Mashed potatoes? Chocolate and wine? Puppies and rainbows.

She was unraveling, fast, and he was close as well. All the pent up emotions, from the both of them, coursing through their bodies as they surfed along on the waves of pleasure. They both needed completion. He moved faster and hit one of her sensitive spots, causing her to clamp down on him and rock her hips, surprising him as she pulled him over the blissful edge along with her as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

He stilled, then, both breathing heavily as they floated up to cloud nine. It was only when their bodies quieted that he withdrew himself from her and laid down beside her. Klaus pulled her in his arms before covering the both of them with the blankets and nuzzled her earlobe. "Welcome home, Isabella," he whispered to the blissed-out woman in his arms. "Welcome home."


	14. Impressing Big Brother

It was nice to wake up with Klaus still in bed with her, he was watching her she woke, but she felt safe and comfortable in his arms and they ended up having morning sex before moving it to the bathroom to clean themselves up. His plan for the morning was to go to the club and gather the remainder of her things. She had no need for her furniture, but the rest of her possessions he'd take care of. Including the bulk of her recent splurging on books.

Klaus told her she was free to explore the compound by herself, but not to leave it, which she was fine with. In every room that she visited there were old pieces of furniture, a lot of art, everything properly decorated and despite it all being antique, it felt cozy, warm.

As she calmly walked through the building, her mind was shooting off rockets in all directions. Now that she and Klaus were what they were, and she wasn't at the club anymore, she wanted to find something else to do because she got bored easily. Sure, she had her quiet days but she didn't want to feel like she was useless. That she was alright with doing nothing. She wanted to do something, but it seemed like the Mikaelsons had everything in order.

There were maids to clean, servers to make sure that the tables were immaculately set up, people for the laundry. Freya was taking care of Hope in Klaus' absence and Bella stayed clear of them. Mainly because she was afraid that she'd drop the baby on her head and, if she had to be honest, she hated babies. They were loud and smelly. In a way she was grateful that she had stumbled into the undead part of the supernatural world; at least it meant that her boyfriends couldn't knock her up.

She eventually found her way into the kitchen were a handful of people were working on lunch for them and Elijah was calmly talking to another person as he was preparing something that looked like finger food. The gigantic, professional kitchen was singing to her and she knew she'd found her keeping busy place. This was heaven.

"Bella…" he said as he looked over his shoulder, surprised to see her downstairs.

"Little known fact; I'm actually a decent cook and I want to help out, with whatever they or you are doing."

"As long as you're a guest in our house; a resident, there is nothing that you'll have to do. You'll be well taken care of-"

"I want to do something," she said, looking up to Elijah with her eyes narrowed. "Klaus doesn't want me to leave the building and Freya is with Hope, so please, let me do something."

Amused, Elijah shrugged. "What about knitting? Embroidery?"

"Baking?" She tried, but the look on Elijah's face she knew that he wasn't going for it. She was going to have to talk to Klaus about this. She wouldn't cause any trouble in the kitchen, so why wasn't she allowed to help out or at least bake something? "Oh come on, you're obviously doing something, with your hands and food. I want in."

"We're alright, here."

She sighed as she shoved her hands in her pocket and leaned against the doorway. "Isn't tonight a full moon? You're making food for the wolves, aren't you? Please, let me bake something for them. I feel bad, I mean, nobody should go through what they're going through and cakes make people happy."

"Very well, perhaps we could take the opportunity to get to know each other a little better," he said as he motioned for her to come in. "It's unlike Niklaus to bring someone to the compound like he has, especially now that Hope is here."

"Do you honestly believe he'd do anything that could harm his daughter?" Bella questioned as she moved around the kitchen trying to find what she needed. Unsurprisingly, the kitchen had a logical system where they kept everything and even a whole cupboard dedicated to baking goods. "Believe me, Elijah, if Klaus thought he couldn't trust me, he wouldn't have brought me here."

"Yes, well, forgive me for doubting my brother's intentions. He's not known for his impulse control and you are - exquisite. My brother can easily be fooled by a pretty face. It wouldn't be the first time."

"I know and I understand that you have your reservations. Now, how many cupcakes do you need?" Bella asked as she put the mixing bowl on the counter and started to gather the ingredients. She opened the door to the fridge and stared in wonder. "Nutella. I'll make Nutella cakes."

"I think thirty should be fine," Elijah said, as he continued with what he was doing. "I'm merely curious because on the surface, you're not his type."

"What do you know about his type? I mean, Caroline was this preppy school girl, wasn't she? Hayley was only a fling, but she's the mother of his child. Katerina was well off… ohhh," she smiled at him. "It's because of my troubles with the Cold Ones and because I decided to work for Myriam, isn't it? I'm the uncleanest of them all, aren't I? Wow. And here I thought you had the capability to look beyond the surface of people." She grabbed the eggs and milk and then looked at him. "And last time I checked, you asked Klaus to set you up with Myriam, so aren't you being a hypocrite right now?"

"I possess excellent judgement," Elijah retorted.

"Yeah, that's your opinion," she pointed out. "Look, I get it. Myriam built this amazing club and she helps people who need help with their supernatural problems, but she's not an innocent, Elijah. She has clients of her own. Or used to have them in the absence of Klaus. She's not afraid to play dirty, either. Compared to her, I'm a saint! And if you're trying to insult me, it won't work."

"I'm not trying to insult you, I'm merely trying to-"

"Get the facts. I know that and I don't mind. But don't talk about your brother as if he's incapable of making decisions of his own. As if his judgement isn't as good as yours. Sure, he's easily distracted and makes stupid decisions, but don't deny that you all rely on him to do the dirty work," she said as she weighed the flour. "Because he's the 'monster' of the family. Please. You're all monsters," she huffed. "Neither one of you has clean hands. At least I can say that despite my history - which could have been far more colorful, by the way - I have never killed someone."

When Elijah wanted to speak again, she interrupted him as she started to beat together the eggs and butter. "I am not living out some Pretty Woman fantasy nor did I wish for a White Knight to whisk me away from my miserable existence. Despite being in hiding, I was quite content where I was until that asshole of a brother of yours decided to lie to me. And frankly, I'm glad he's not my White Knight because I didn't need rescuing."

"How would you describe him then?"

She beat the eggs and butter a little faster before adding a splash of vanilla extract and the flour. "As my equal. Despite all the wealth, all the strength and his longevity, we're equals. Nothing more, nothing less."

Elijah slowly nodded as he wrapped the platter with sandwiches in plastic wrap. "I do have to admit that when Freya took me to see what Niklaus had been up to-"

"We weren't going to discuss that."

"Please let me finish," he said kindly before starting a new platter. "It surprised me how open he was with you, how remorseful, telling you how his actions affected him and how it affected his life. Now, I'm not sure it was your influence or Camille's, but I was quite surprised."

"I like to think that it's a side you and your siblings often don't get to see because you all keep thinking he's a monster."

"His recent actions caused the deaths of many vampires, the wolf pack were cursed, again, and he betrayed us by siding with a very powerful witch."

Bella let out a snort. "Klaus had a plan that could have worked if you hadn't thrown the first stone and daggered him, things would have turned out differently so if you feel betrayed, you must imagine how he must have felt. Still feels. Hayley wanted to take his daughter away from him and despite everything, she still went along with it, even though Hope would have been safe here. You facilitated her leaving with Hope because you were afraid and did not trust Klaus to do what was best." she turned around to face him. "You know how much Hope means to Klaus, and I don't condone what he did, having Dahlia placing that curse upon Hope's mother, but at that point, it was the only way he could stop Hayley from taking his daughter away from him and teach her a lesson. I am sure that soon enough, someone will be able to reverse the curse or whatever, but you can't blame Klaus for going to extremes to protect what's his. He'd do the same for you. Hell, he was even willing to sacrifice himself to buy you the time you needed to finish what he started."

"He was foolish!"

"Klaus was backed into a corner because you didn't trust him. You betrayed him. And I told him that he'd been right in doing what he did, but that he was an idiot for sacrificing himself, but you know what? I think he'd do it all over again if he had to save you. Or Rebekah. Or Hope. You're his family and you often forget how much he loves all of you. He won't say it, but his actions speak for themselves. And you really need to stop holding a grudge because even though you're hurt, you're not the only one hurting."

"Perhaps you were right," he spoke softly as he moved over to her to relieve her from mixing the cake ingredients together. Elijah was surprised that despite they had only just met, she seemed to know his family quite well, she seemed to understand his brother's actions far better than anyone else could, perhaps even more than Camille. "It seems that I was wrong not to look further beyond the surface. You have given me a lot to think about, and I want to thank you for your insight and your offer to bake something for the wolves, but I think I'd rather spend the rest of my time preparing on my own."

She looked at him for a moment and sighed as she shook her head. "You're siblings. According to everyone with siblings, siblings fight. But one would think that after a thousand years together, you'd know each other through and through. I get it, he killed your girlfriend, but out of all the friends he could choose from, she was the most disposable and she died for a greater good. I am sorry."

"I told you to leave," he should have been annoyed by this persistent human, but he found himself amused. She wasn't afraid of anything and unaware that the kitchen crew had already temporarily scattered after hearing his tone of voice.

"Yeah and I'm not listening," she said as she grabbed the muffin tin and started to fill it with her batter. "Just so you know, I'm 26 years old. I was at Débauche for two years to hide from some Cold Ones who I've been running from for five years prior to my arrival in this city. Before them, I had plans to study history and maybe land myself a good job. Solicitation was a way for me to survive and I did it for funsies at the club." Once the batter was in all tins, she put them in the big oven and set the timer. "I'm an only child, my father was the local police chief and he passed away. I hate the cold and I like books, chocolate and music. I'm pretty boring when you scrape away the layer of shit that's attached to my skin." She grabbed the ingredients she'd need for a Nutella buttercream and started to make it.

He could go eye for an eye, of course. Niklaus killed his girlfriend, perhaps Elijah should return the favor. However, seeing as she was also loved by his current interest, it was for the best that he wouldn't self-sabotage himself. But, if she was truly going to stay with them, they were going to have to need a family meeting so that his brother could explain his intentions by bringing the girl here. "Are you insane?"

"Why? Because I don't mind stepping on vampire toes?" Bella smiled at him as she beat her mixture. "And why ask me to assess my sanity? Ask Myriam. No doubt she would have told you that you can't talk about your family or the club, but since I'm neither family or working for her anymore, it shouldn't be a problem."

Perhaps killing her _now_ was too much of an impulse. He could easily not kill her. At first he thought she was like Miss Caroline Forbes, a preppy high schooler, but Bella was more mature - being in her mid twenties, Elijah sure hoped she'd be more mature. But in some way Bella reminded him of his sister Rebekah, and perhaps Kol, after waking after being daggered for some time. Hyper. Talkative. No filter. False sense of bravery. Yes, despite her claiming not to be afraid, her heart was pounding fast. "Are you always this… obtuse?"

"Me? No," she said lightly and shrugged. "But I know that it's unlike Klaus to take a woman home with him, especially one you've never seen or heard of. I wanted to show you that I'm well aware what kind of a man your brother is, that I'm aware of his actions and what I think of them, because that's what you truly wanted to hear; isn't it? Whether or not I'm a groupie with no brain or actually have a brain of my own," she smiled at him. "And I told you a little about myself because it's rude to seem to know stories about the person you're talking to while the other person doesn't have a straw to grasp on to. You'll find me a lot less _obtuse_ once I don't feel like I have to prove that you can trust me."

Did she scare easily? Did he want to put that to the test? It could backfire and cause her to run and then Niklaus would probably be angry with him. Elijah didn't know the girl's full story, only that she'd been missing for a few days - it even had affected Myriam. It was a shame that he didn't have the time to have a sit down with his brother and talk this through. Perhaps he could talk to Myriam on the phone while he continued to prepare the meals and snacks for the pack.

She had cleaned up her workspace and looked at the timer. "The cupcakes need about ten to twelve more minutes, you can pipe them, right?"

"Yes, thank you, Bella. This has been… enlightening," he acknowledged as he watched her walk out of the kitchen with the jar of Nutella and a spoon.

~o.O.o~

"I still don't like it," Myriam said as she leaned against the doorpost to what used to be Bella's apartment and watched Klaus go through Bella's stuff. There were compelled vampires waiting just down the hall to carry her life to her new digs and Myriam was still not liking it. "What makes you think you're going to be better at helping her than I am?"

"I'm not," he said as he dumped the entirety of Bella's underwear basket into a bag, seeing some of his favourites tumble in with a smile on his face. "I'm perhaps the most ill-equipped person to help her and I'm not denying it, but I am not going to risk her disappearing again."

"Yeah, and whose fault was that? Oh, right, yours!" Myriam snapped.

"Perhaps this is selfish of me, I admit it, but I want her in my life. I want her to be mine. I want to give her what she wants and she wants me. I denied her, because as long as she was here, I couldn't risk not being able to protect her despite every security measures taken to make this place into a fortress," he replied as he went for the next drawer. "Maybe it's me taking advantage of her, I don't know, only time will tell."

"There is no doubt that she shares your feelings, Klaus," she replied with a sigh. "I'm more concerned about bringing her into a place where everyone is on high alert all the time, what it will do to her. What if the flashbacks come back? What if she won't be able to sleep? What if she stops eating? What if she detaches herself even further?"

"You need to stop mother henning, love," he said amused. "I worry, too, but I am certain that she'll pull through. And if not, than I shall admit defeat. Yes, life might get a little bumpy, rather later than sooner, but I have faith. I think she can handle it. And it's not as if you won't ever see her again. There is no doubt in my mind that should things progress between you and my brother, you'll be over quite often."

Myriam huffed. "I wouldn't count on it."

Once he was done with packing Bella's clothes, he started on her books, noticing the bag filled with her newest purchases. "Are you going to keep distracting me or can I do this on my own without you hovering? The sooner I get back to her, the better. There's no doubt that Elijah will find her and start questioning her."

"You do need to talk to him about her, you know that, right?"

"And for that, he needs to want to talk to me."

"Uhuh," she said with a sigh. "Very well, I shall leave you alone. Please do stop by at my office when you leave, I have some papers for Bella that she'll need, including her bank information where I've deposited all of her tips in. Just tell her not to spend it all at once, okay?"

"You're coddling. Again."

Myriam let out a frustrated grunt and walked away. On her way to the office, her phone rang and she picked it up after recognizing the number. "Elijah, what a surprise," she remarked as she pushed through the security door. "McDonald's is next week, isn't it?"

Elijah laughed on the other side of the phone. " _Yes, yes it is. How are you faring, Myriam? After last night?"_

"Still adjusting, but I doubt that's why you called me," she pushed the door to her office open and settled down behind her desk as she started to collect the papers that Bella would need. "Klaus has been taking his time with sorting through Bella's belongings for a few hours now, I'm sure he'll come home soon."

" _I'm not too worried about that at the moment."_

"Are you sure?"

" _I'm fairly sure, yes,"_ he sounded amused. " _I just had the lovely experience of having a chat with hurricane Bella."_

Myriam snorted. "I think you mean hurricane Isabella. She's still coming down from her Isa."

" _Are you saying that she has multiple personalities?"_

"No, no, not at all," she said quickly. "Isa is… hmm… how to say this without having it sound as if she's crazy? It's her other persona. Her flight persona. The one she used to run from her Cold One problems for so long. With just the right nudge, such as your brother refusing her, she shifts into her fight or flight mode and flees into her. Give it a day or two, she'll calm down."

" _Interesting…"_

"She'll be more stable once Klaus gets back. What did she do?"

Elijah sucked in a breath. " _Not to worry, she was fair, honest and surprisingly refreshing."_

"That would be Bella, indeed."

" _And she spoke as if she didn't need breathing, really fast."_

"I told you, she's coming down from flight mode. The first two days after her arrival here, were spent rambling, really fast, telling me everything I needed to know about her. Klaus was there, too, but he took off a couple of times. On the third day I had a witch just put a spell on her to calm her down. It was then when the nightmares and the flashbacks started. Klaus was the one who helped her through that time and when she balanced out, she was an agreeable young woman. Stubborn, but highly intelligent and observant. You'll like her."

" _I can't help but wonder if Niklaus has completely lost his mind by bringing her into our home."_

"You can trust her, Elijah. She's been my rock for the last two years, I could rely on her to do anything. Jump in for a sick employee at the last minute, double check my administration for the club, fix holes in clothes. This one time, our fridge broke and finding a replacement on short notice was proving to be difficult so she made a glorious meal for all of us and donated the rest of the meal to the homeless shelter. She's a good person and I'm definitely going to miss having her around."

" _Her problem with the Cold Ones, how bad is it?"_

Myriam sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You'll have to discuss that with your brother."

" _Myriam, please."_

"No," she said curtly.

" _Give me something, at least."_

"Fine. Right now, it's moderate. It's contained, but that was because she was cloaked. I have a sneaky suspicion that Klaus has asked Freya to put a cloaking spell on her now, but she's been exposed for days."

" _He never cloaked Hope."_

"No, but Hope isn't a walking, talking target with the tendency to flee. Just talk to your brother about this. I know that today isn't the best day as you're going to be busy in the Bayou, but talk to him as soon as you can."

" _Why would he want to cloak Bella? We can easily handle the Cold Ones should they come for her. What did she do what pissed them off?"_

"She ran away after realizing they're dickheads. Talk to Klaus. Talk to Bella. I don't wish to betray their trust by telling her story for her."

Elijah sighed. " _Very well. I suppose I'll have to finish up and wait for Niklaus to return to fit him into my tight schedule."_

"Play nice," she said as her door swung open, revealing Klaus. She then smiled. "The both of you, play nice," she said before disconnecting the call and handed Klaus a folder. "Elijah's met Isabella, sounds to me that she gave him quite the verbal asskicking."

"Brilliant," he replied with a smile on his face. "I hope he's impressed."

"More concerned, which is why you really need to talk to him and Freya about Bella. Go home. Talk," she said as she made a shooing movement with her hand. "I've got a business to run."


	15. Bella's Story

He led his vampires into the parlour where he found Bella on the floor with Hope, both girls seemingly to have passed out, with Bella a protective arm over his daughter. A nearly empty jar of Nutella was on the table and he took a moment to take in the scene before him. There was no doubt that Bella was in a Nutella-induced slumber while Hope was taking her scheduled nap.

He knew that Bella didn't like children much, babies in particular, but he was grateful for her at least making an effort. There was also no doubt that Freya had asked Bella to relieve her from babysitting duty to tend to her own life for a couple of hours, and he didn't mind that. He trusted Bella in taking care of his daughter. She had a big heart, he could always trust her big heart to do the right thing.

And of course, Hope had her own draw to anything supernatural. To power. As his little test the night before, Hope trusted Bella without even knowing her; it was Bella's energy that did it. Turning around to his vampires, he quietly compelled them to forget what they had been doing and told them to scatter.

Klaus then sat behind Bella and ran his fingers through her hair. "Love, it's time for some lunch," he said softly. "Time to wake up."

"Sleep is good," Bella replied with a yawn. "I'm tired."

"Well, then you shouldn't have eaten most of the jar of Nutella, love," he said amused. "I'll take Hope to her crib while you wake up," he rose and gently pulled Hope up from the floor before moving her into her crib. By the time he returned, Bella was still on the floor. "On your feet," he said, pulling her up, causing her to sigh and stand in front of him. "There you go."

"You're mean," she pouted.

"That's not fair, I spent all morning collecting your belongings," he said as he showed her the bags and boxes. "Everything's accounted for, even your… _toys_ , although I doubt you'll be needing them anymore."

"I could use them on you," she said with a smirk as she rubbed her eyes to wake up. "Tie you up… hold a vibrator against your cock and balls…Play…"

"Lunch," he said as he put an arm around her and guided her towards the stairs. "I promised Myriam I'd take care of you, so lunch is what we're going to have."

"I'm good."

"Of course you are," she was still a bit wobbly on her feet so he held on to her as they walked down the stairs. "A good cup of tea will wake you right up," he continued, adding the mental reminder in his head to put some of his blood in it. By the time they were at the bottom of the stairs, she was significantly more alert and able to walk without his assistance. Maybe he should have given her more time to wake, but something was nagging in the back of his head. Myriam had questioned his ability to look out for her, and that had stung.

When they walked into the dining room, however, he was surprised to find Elijah and Freya sit at the table, eagerly awaiting his and Bella's arrival. "What is this? An intervention?" He quipped as he pulled out a chair for Bella and only sat down when she did. "Or an apology, perhaps?"

"For once, Niklaus, this isn't about you," Elijah replied as he nodded towards Bella. "This is about your new friend. I'm willing to extend a temporary truce between you and I to discuss your friend."

Klaus looked at Freya and sighed before looking at his brother. "I gather you've recently had an interesting conversation."

"Two, actually. One, this morning while I was preparing for the pack picnic. Something you should have been doing, but I suppose you're still not over your grudge towards Hope's mother and the second conversation was with our mutual friend, Myriam," Elijah said evenly as he watched Bella pour herself a glass of tea from the teapot. She looked remarkably calmer than his earlier encounter with her.

"Elijah has informed me about the first talk," Freya said with a shrug. "Most of it, I already knew, of course."

"I do not like being kept out of the loop," Elijah reminded his siblings.

"Well, now you know what that feels like, brother," Klaus remarked before wincing as Bella kicked his shin underneath the table. "But please continue."

It hadn't escaped him what Bella had just done, she had corrected his brother's behaviour and he took it. It was refreshing. Elijah nodded when his brother prompted him to continue. "Myriam didn't say much, but what she had to say had me worried for the safety of our family, of Hope. And I know it's a sore subject, but I really wish to know why you're on the run from the Cold Ones, and what you've done to them."

"What I've done to them?!" Bella shot at him. "Seriously?"

"Why else would you be in moderate danger?"

Klaus put his hand on Bella's arm. "Easy love," he soothed her. "How about I tell him and you add whatever you feel comfortable with?"

"How about we don't discuss it?" Bella said as she gripped her fork tightly, ready to throw it at Elijah. "Those assholes ruined my life and he has the nerve to ask me what I've done to them? Me? To them?!"

"Breathe," he reminded her. "Just breathe and take a sip of your tea, love," he then looked at his two siblings. "It's a good thing that I've already informed our sister what the Cold Ones are so that this conversation will go a little bit smoother. Nearly nine years ago, a coven of Cold Ones called the Cullens," he could feel Bella tense up underneath his touch and gently squeezed her arm for reassurance. "Moved back to a little town they had previously lived in and they took a liking to Bella. Now, we all know how charming those rodents can be and young as she was, Bella started to get involved with the only son who was single. Despite mistreating her, mostly in the form of emotional abuse and the secret creepily staring at her while she slept, she stuck with him and his… family. During this time, this son decided to put her through the ultimate test to see if she would rescue him when pretending to want to end his life in a big way, exposing their kind to the human world, at the castle in Volterra, Italy. Bella, the good heart that she is, went, of course."

Elijah blinked at that, as he listened to his brother's words. It was unheard of for a human to survive an encounter with the Volturi, and he was anxious to hear more. As his brother spoke, he kept his eyes on Bella. He could see various emotions flash across her face. Anger. Betrayal. Pain. Mostly the same sort of look his brother usually had on his face when he felt as if a great injustice had happened to him.

"During that time, her father was in a car accident and she was unable to attend his funeral as she was in Italy. Upon coming home, the Cullens started to become more controlling, more abusive and tried to make her do things while she was trying to mourn her father's passing," Klaus continued, still his hand on her arm, watching her as she took a sip from her tea. "They become more impatient and at one point her life was even put further in danger as two members of that coven lost their patience with her."

Freya swallowed hard. While Klaus had told her about the other kind of vampire, the Cold Ones, she hadn't been able to foresee the shit that they put Bella through. Of course, she knew there was a reason for Bella being at Débauche, but for it to be this, it was tough to swallow.

"As if that wasn't hard enough, there was a threat from the outside from another Cold One. The Cullens had killed her mate while they were protecting Bella, and she was on a rampage."

"Edward and I went to Florida, to see my mother," Bella softly said. "My mother and I never got along, and I think they wanted me there only to torture me even further, but once she saw Edward trying to shake me 'out of it' quite violently, she told me to run and never to look back. And I did. For all I know, Edward could have killed her out of spite," she carefully put down her fork, relaxing a little. "The Cullens have gifts. Edward's gift is the power to read minds. Then there's another one called Jasper who can influence someone's emotions, but the one to look out for is Alice. She can hone in to a person and based on the decisions they make, she can see their future. I ran for five years, trying to stay one step ahead, trying not to make decisions and only do last minute. I was so tired. And then I heard of Débauche."

Elijah slowly nodded, feeling for the girl. Despite the monstrosities that he and his family had done, it was nowhere near as bad. Well, perhaps the only one would be compelling vampires to pretend to be them while they were on the run from their father but she was human. A human girl. Surviving Cold Ones. She was quite the tenacious creature. He then looked at Klaus and sighed. "You told Myriam the threat was moderate because you didn't want to worry her, did you?"

"She has enough on her plate as it is."

"What I don't understand is, why haven't they given up?" Freya questioned. "Or have they?"

"They have not," Klaus replied curtly. "Bella spent the last week in the company of our old friend Lucien and he encountered a Cold One in the Quarter, the same one who had been hunting Bella when she was sent to Florida."

"Lucien?" Elijah blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Ah, he's a problem to discuss later, brother," he said playfully and wagged his finger in warning. "Lucien killed the bitch, but if there's one, it's quite certain more will follow."

"But why? She's human! I understand that they're quite the secretive bunch, and they usually kill humans on sight for even seeing them, let alone knowing about them and how they work, so how come is she still alive?"

"Have you tried to compel Bella this morning, brother?" Klaus mused, a big smile on his face. "If not, please make her cluck like a chicken."

Bella let out a low growl in warning, before stabbing Klaus' hand with the fork she had only dropped a few moments before.

"Easy, love," Klaus hissed as he pulled the fork out of his hand. "We're almost done, just keep it together for a little bit longer." Handing her the fork back, he looked at his brother. "Does she smell like an ordinary human to you, brother?"

Now that he thought about it, not really. "Her blood does seem to smell a bit stronger than that of others," he said slowly and then blinked. "Bella's a singer?"

"A singer who survived the Cold Ones."

"That is unheard of!"

"What is a singer?" Freya blinked as she looked between her brothers. Elijah looked stumped, Klaus looked smug and Bella looked on the verge of breaking her glass and slicing something open. "I mean, I obviously know what a singer is but what does it mean in your case?"

"Not much is known of the Cold One lore. All their mysteries, mishaps and destruction is kept secret, it's quite difficult to find any evidence of them anywhere. It's only that we know of them due to us having lived in Italy for some time and Elijah's a book hoarder."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are," Freya said, rolling her eyes at her brother. "But we love you for it."

"In Italian, La Tua Cantante is used to identify a human whose blood appeals to a certain vampire. The human becomes irresistible to him or her and in most cases, singers don't survive their encounter with their… _audience_ ," Elijah explained. "And if they do, they turn."

"But Bella didn't."

"The Cullens are self-proclaimed vegetarians who possess excellent control over their bloodlust. Well, most of them, anyway," Bella said wryly.

"So, Elijah, do you remember what your books say about singers who live longer than they're supposed to?" Klaus asked as he put a beignet onto Bella's plate. "I have my suspicions but I'm wondering what you come up with."

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again before speaking. "It's been awhile since I've brushed up on those books, but I do remember something about the longer singers live, the more powerful they become, but I can't be sure. There was something else."

"Well, I know you're a bit short on time, brother," Klaus said with a smile. "How about you allow Bella to read through those books? This gives her something to do."

"They're in Italian, Niklaus," Elijah sighed exasperated. "Ancient Italian at that, I highly doubt that she'd be able to read them. I'll look through them tomorrow after my visit with the wolves, unless you feel inclined?"

"I'm going to help Bella settle in, find a space for her belongings," Klaus said as he looked at her as she nibbled on her beignet.

"You're more than capable of doing multiple tasks at once, Niklaus. If she truly is under a threat by the Cold Ones, there is no time to waste and we need to get this over and done with," Elijah remarked angrily. "You should have killed the Cold Ones that were after her."

"My apologies, Elijah," Klaus shot at him. "But if you haven't noticed, we've been quite busy the last two years and she told me not to!"

"The sooner we figure out what her being alive still means for them, the better," he said as he got up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to pack up my things and wait for Hope to wake up so I can take her to the Bayou with me. I shall also find you those books so you can peruse them."

"Elijah's right," Freya agreed. "We have to figure this out now. It's bad enough that our family has the reputation to get into trouble, we cannot have an extra threat in our house."

"I could go back to the club," Bella muttered as she finished her beignet and took a sip of her tea. "Problem sorted."

"Oh, no, you're not going anywhere," Freya shook her head. "This house is filled with men. I am grateful that there's another female in here that I can talk to instead of wishing a baby could speak, but we do need to figure your problems out. I shall use my magic to see if I can be of any use."

Klaus watched as his sister followed his brother out and then looked at Bella, who looked as pale as a sheet. "Are you alright, love?"

"I just think this is a very bad idea. Let sleeping dogs lie and all that. If me being here is more dangerous for you then-"

Elijah walked back into the dining room. "Just what exactly did you mean by having to try to compel Bella? Singers aren't supposed to have any additional gifts than being especially appetizing to some Cold Ones."

"Her mind is an impenetrable fortress, nobody can read her mind or compel her."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Bella said with a shrug. "It frustrated Edward to no end, but I thought it was great because then he couldn't hear what I was thinking."

"Freya?" he called out.

"Oh, on it, this is interesting!" Freya said as she bounced back in. "Can I try something? I promise I won't hurt you."

She was shaking her hands as if she was on something and Bella didn't like it. While she didn't mind the warlocks and witches at Débauche, she never allowed them to get close with their magic. And if Freya wanted to use her magic on her… She looked at Klaus, anxious. "No?"

"It's alright, love. If she does anything to hurt you, I shall not hesitate to kill her," he said with a warning in his voice as he looked at his sister.

"I'd like to see you try, Nik," Freya said playfully as she put her hands on Bella's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. Think of this as… a medical assessment with witchcraft."

"I don't like this."

"Relax, it's likely I can't get anything either, but we'll see," she squeezed Bella's shoulders reassuringly before putting her hands on the sides of her head and closed her eyes.

"I don't want you to do this," she said, squirming a little in her seat.

"Shhh," Freya shushed her. "Working here."

"No, but…"

"Bella," Freya whined. "Later. I'm sensing old magic…Oh, terribly old. Powerful. Let me see if..." Freya gasped as some force pushed her away from Bella and hit her head against the wall behind her. "Wow! Ow…" she said as she rubbed her head and got to her feet. "That…"

"Was interesting," Elijah said, his curiosity piqued. Even Klaus was on his feet, looking to Bella and to his sister, confused. "Old magic?"

"Oh yeah," she said out of breath, her eyes wide of excitement. "Very old, and obviously the magic is protecting Bella from others getting inside her head or removing the spell. Can I try again?"

"No!" Bella quickly rose from her chair, looking at Freya in shock. "Stay the hell away from me, you only want to hurt me!"

"And now we know why she has such a hatred for witches," Klaus said lightly, slightly concerned by this old magic. Did they really have to concern themselves with Cold Ones, her being a singer and now old magic? What else was he going to have to put Bella through? "I think this is enough experimentation for the day," he then said as he pulled Bella towards him. "How about we find a place for your trinkets?"

"I want some of Bella's blood to work with," Freya said quickly. "I can identify the magic, I know I can."

"No!" Bella huffed as she pulled her arms closer to her body and shuffled closer to Klaus. "You're not getting anything!" She then looked up to Klaus and sighed. "Is she mentally ill?"

"I often think that, yes."

Elijah felt stupefied. Usually, his brother wanted to get to the bottom of things as quickly as possible, no matter the person. So what if the girl was overwhelmed? It never stopped his brother before, he always pushed. Granted, Bella had her issues, but if they'd break her now, they only had to break her once. "Niklaus, I think that we need to get to the bottom of this. A little bit of blood won't hurt."

"Freya's not getting Bella's blood, end of argument. Find a different means," he then guided Bella out of the dining room. "Let's get you settled."


	16. A surprise guest

The entire afternoon was spent with Klaus and her going through her stuff. Bella realized that most of her wardrobe was comprised of her working clothes and weren't quite decent enough to wear normally, and decided to keep a few things that could be used for parties or whatever and the rest, she put it in a bag to return to Myriam. Maybe some other girls could use them.

While Klaus had been _helpful_ with sorting out the clothes, some outfits made his eyes darken and made him drool, he insisted that she kept all of her underwear as he planned on tearing some numbers off her body if she wore them, getting the both of them quite excited and ended up making love in front of the fireplace before resuming the cleanup process.

He graciously made space in closets and drawers and even on a few shelves here and there for her belongings, he drew the line at having Mr. Wiggles in bed with them. It was Bella's oldest stuffed animal that she always dragged along for comfort. He looked tattered, but he was still there, just like she was. She found a nice spot for him, on her side of the bed, out of Klaus' sight, but she knew that the stuffed animal was there.

And after dinner, she and Klaus withdrew to the parlour for her to go through the folder that Myriam had given Klaus. Bella hadn't known about the existence of this folder, with important papers concerning her. She had an insurance policy, a health insurance and all other things that a human needed to be functional in the real world. She hadn't thought about any of it while she was on the run, then again, Bella didn't quite know how to adult anyway so she was grateful for Myriam having done this for her.

What surprised her most, though, was finding a note from Myriam telling her about the next papers.

 _You were always so gracious in insisting that you didn't want any money for the time you put in for Débauche, whether it be administration or entertaining. So I didn't pay you your wages. However, you worked hard, Bella, and you also handed off your tips as if money meant nothing to you._

 _Now that you're in a position where you might want to buy things of your own, you need money, although there's no doubt in my mind that Klaus will provide you with everything you need._

 _Ever since you first handed your tips over to me, willingly and so graciously, I made the decision of depositing that into a bank account in your name._

 _Spend it wisely, Bella. All the information that you need are in the bank documents._

 _With love, Myriam._

Bella blinked as she continued to look through her papers. "Did you know about this?" she asked Klaus, who was standing on the balcony with a glass of bourbon. "That she kept my tips for me?"

"Not at first, love," he replied absently. There was something in the air, he could feel it, and it wasn't good. "But it's nice of her that she did."

"I didn't realize I had that much in tips over the last two years though. I mean… I'm not a dancer."

"Ah, but you are very talented in other ways," he said with a smile on his face. "There's no doubt that some clients added a little extra later. You can spend some of your new found wealth on clothes."

"Forget clothes, I want more books!" she joked and then nearly fell backwards into the fire when Elijah walked in, followed by a huge man. Muscles, dark hair, anger etched on his face.

"I thought I smelled swamp," Klaus remarked as he turned around to face his brother and Jackson. "Did you have to startle Bella at this time of night?"

"What did you do with Hayley?" Jackson breezed.

"Tell me what you know," Elijah added, briefly glancing over to Bella. "Hope's in her crib, could you tend to her?"

"You go deal with Hope," Bella shot at him as she got to her feet. "You come barging in here, accusing Klaus of something. Wrongfully accusing him, I might add. He's been here all the time!"

"Who the hell is she?" Jackson demanded as he pointed at Bella.

"It's alright, Bella," Klaus smiled at her before walking towards his brother. "Has Jackson misplaced his bride? Come to think about it, I did read that global warming was affecting migration patterns. Try Georgia!"

"I just left the bodies of people I care about to rot in the woods because you left them defenseless against poachers!" Jackson shot at the hybrid. "Like Kingmaker Land Development. Does that ring a bell?"

"It does, it's been brought to my attention that there's a new company in town. Someone was actually worried that they were going to build in the Bayou!" Klaus replied with a snort. "What a ridiculous idea."

"Yeah, the CEO is Lucien Castle," Jackson spat. "Elijah tells me you two go way back-"

"So what do you know, Niklaus?"

Bella just stared at the men in front of her. So this was Jackson, Hayley's husband. Hope's stepfather. And Hayley was missing. And Lucien had something to do with it? That sounded absurd, really. He was a businessman, not a poacher. He probably also knew not to go after werewolves seeing as he's a vampire and all. "I'm sorry, but what has Lucien to do with this?"

Klaus winced and Elijah's head snapped to Bella. "You know Lucien?"

"Yeah, we met a couple of days ago. He held me for a few days," she said nonchalantly. "Speaking of which," she turned to Klaus. "He still has my blood!"

"I'm working on it, love," he replied soothingly.

"Work harder!"

"So I'll ask you again, what do you know?" Elijah demanded as he took another step towards his brother.

"As it happens, two days ago I had a romp with our good friend Lucien. You can find him in the penthouse of the gaudy new construction on Canal. And while you two are catching up, be sure to ask him about the prophetic vision he showed me of our family's spectacular downfall. You could use a good laugh."

"And ask for my blood!" Bella nodded.

Elijah sighed and pointed at Jackson. "You stay here. Niklaus and I will deal with this."

"Actually, as long as Hayley's prowling about on two legs and unaccounted for, I'm staying with my daughter," Klaus said as he walked towards Jackson and eyed him suspiciously. "And, should I discover that this is yet another cock-eyed scheme for Hayley and you to abscond with her, the paltry remains of your beloved wolf pack will be sniffing at your entrails come morning."

Jackson scowled at Klaus, which made Klaus smile as he moved to join Bella, only to be stopped by Elijah. "This doesn't frighten you, brother. But, one day, your daughter will know exactly the kind of man that her father is. If anything should happen to Hayley, you mark my words- no one will have to take Hope from you. She will, without question, leave you of her own accord."

Bella was amazed that Klaus just let Elijah speak to him like that and watched Elijah's retreating back. "Wow, you're such an asshole," she remarked. "And who's going to tell Hope that her own mother tried to take her away from her loving and caring father? Not you, I'm sure."

"Stay out of this, Bella," Elijah replied. "Hope is none of your concern."

"No, but Klaus is and you know very well that he has the right to be angry."

"We'll discuss this later, we have an _old friend_ to catch up with and you don't want to hear that you're wrong."

"Asshole," Bella muttered as she watched Elijah follow Jackson out.

Klaus sighed as he rubbed Bella's back. "You need to be more careful who you piss off, love. Yes, I'm aware that you have my blood in your system, but if you're going to die, it'll be by my hand."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Shut up, Klaus. I'm going to see if Hope's okay and you… well… do whatever."

Amused, Klaus watched her as she walked away and made his way to the courtyard, calling Freya on his phone. Hayley was missing. She needed to be found. Yes, he was angry with her, but she did not deserve to miss out on the one night a month where she could see her daughter. He was cruel, but not that cruel. "Freya, I'm aware that 21st century technology remains a mystery to you, but when you see my name pop up on your phone, you answer it. Come home. Immediately."

After he disconnected the call, he bumped into Camille. This late? What was she doing up this late? He decided to entertain her for the time being, and listened to her ridiculous accusations that Lucien was responsible for the murders in the Quarter. It didn't sound like him. It was too sloppy, too messy and Lucien was a perfectionist.

However, the crime scene photo's that she shared were stirring some memories within him, memories of long ago and now he wasn't sure if it wasn't Lucien. Cami had some compelling words about how NOLA PD wouldn't be able to arrest a thousand year old vampire, and all that nastiness that came with it and told Klaus to make Lucien stop.

Why was everything about Lucien all of a sudden? What if Tristan and Aurora showed up because they believed in the same stupid prophecy that Lucien did?

~o.O.o~

Bella had fallen asleep in the rocking chair while holding Hope. For some reason, for someone who didn't like children - Klaus knew this - this was the second time today that he found Bella asleep with Hope in her arms. Maybe it was because Hope wasn't an ordinary baby, or maybe Bella did feel comfortable around her. All he knew was that the sight before him was a beautiful sight for sore eyes.

Trying to gently remove Hope out of Bella's sleeping arms, he failed and Bella's eyes shot open. "Look, I'm used to spending nights awake, but I usually sleep during the day. How on Earth is it possible for you to be still standing upright?"

"You can go back to sleep, love, I only need Hope."

"She's a child! She needs her sleep more than I do."

"I'm not going to validate me waking up my daughter to you," Klaus said as he held the baby who was starting to wake up. "But her mother is still missing and Freya needs her in order for her to do a locator spell. You can go to bed."

Bella sighed as she rubbed her eyes and got up from the chair. "No, it's alright, I'll just put Hope back in her crib once you're done," yawning, she followed Klaus downstairs where Freya had set up to perform the spell. She sat down a little further away from them at a seat and poured herself a glass of bourbon.

Truthfully, Klaus had wished that Bella would have stayed upstairs, out of the high alert zone as he was uncertain about what would happen. He was anxious, kept pacing around with Hope in his arms, eyeing Freya, willing the spell to work. He was angry with himself now, he had only wanted to teach Hayley a lesson, not to completely take away Hope's mother. If Hayley was dead, there was no way he could ever forgive himself for that.

Freya gasped as she finished the spell and looked at Klaus in shock. "I can't find her," she whispered. "It's like she doesn't exist."

He looked at Hope, who was looking at him with her fingers stuck in her mouth and let out a breath. _Fuck_. "Or she's dead."

Bella looked up when Jackson and Elijah stormed back in, Jackson obviously having heard what Klaus had said. "No! No. No. You have to find her!" Bella poured herself another bourbon instead. It was time to get drunk.

Freya was still trying to find Hayley while Klaus kept anxiously pacing and just out of nowhere, Jackson doubled over in pain, his arms and legs moving in unnatural ways and Bella could hear the breaking of bones. Before she knew it, she had Hope back in her arms and Klaus was helping Freya to chain Jackson to the walls. "What's going on?"

"It's nearly morning, Jackson's transforming back into a wolf," Elijah replied kindly. "Please take Hope upstairs and stay there. Should he break free, we do not want you in harm's way."

Bella nodded as she stood up and headed for the other set of stairs. In the distance, she could hear Jackson plead with Freya to continue doing the spell, telling her that he couldn't go a month without Hayley before his words were drawn out by his screams. Bella quickened her step, this was something she hadn't seen before; the Quileute wolves just transformed without any effort, but it seemed as if the werewolves, the proper ones, were different in that way. The breaking and setting of bones? They had to go through that every month? It made her period seem less volatile and put in perspective.

She pulled Hope's travel crib into the bedroom and gently put her down. "Go back to sleep," she said softly before crawling into bed and hopefully, she'd get a few more hours in.

~o.O.o~

Bella let out a whine when she heard Klaus on the phone to Lucien as he was looking at his daughter. She was tempted to find vervain somewhere and simply inject the hybrid and his brother with it so they could sleep, but then again, with Hayley still lost, she could understand why he was still up. But it was frustrating and he was bugging his daughter who clearly needed her sleep as well, seeing as Hope was now whining.

When Klaus got off the phone, Bella threw a pillow at him. "Let her sleep."

"You're quite the mother hen, aren't you?" Klaus said amused as he looked at her. "And here I thought you didn't want to be her step-mother."

"I don't. I won't. But she's a defenseless baby and you keep waking her up. That can't be healthy for a child."

"It was a necessity-" his gaze shifted to the courtyard before pointing at Bella. "Stay here. Keep Hope here, mommy's home."

She watched him leave, and then got out of the bed to peek around the corner of the French doors while Hope was still in her crib. She couldn't quite see what was going on, but at least she could hear it.

"Hayley. Come to apologize for all your transgressions?" Klaus sounded smug. All the anxiety of before was gone now that she was standing there. If she was as powerful as he had told Bella to be, why poke her with a jibe?

"Do you have any idea what you have taken from me?" Hayley growled and she soon screamed out in pain. Bella was tempted to peek over the balcony to see what was going on, but she imagined Klaus doing something. What was he up to?

"The very thing you sought to take from me- the chance to raise our daughter. Your punishment fits your crime," Klaus said, and Bella had already said many times that she agreed with it. He was teaching her a lesson. However, she could also understand Hayley's anger towards him. Seeing your kid only once a month must hurt.

"Your family was ruining her life!"

Bella could hear some fighting going on, but the grunts were mostly from the near-feral Hayley. "My family saved her life while you were off playing hide-and-seek in the forest!"

It must have been some fight, because soon, Bella could hear Jackson grunting. "Let me go! He'll kill her!"

"He'll kill you!" Freya's voice sounded.

"There's a very short list of people who've tried to take Hope away from me, and you're the only one left breathing," Klaus sounded calm. Oh, Bella knew what he was doing. He was giving Hayley the opportunity to vent her anger, which was good, she wouldn't be able to kill him and she'd calm down in the process, perhaps working through things while she was beating him up. Not that Bella wanted him to get beaten up, but he was durable.

"Are you that delusional, Klaus? You cursed all of us! Every wolf that I fought for, everyone that stood up for our daughter. You took all of them away from their families!"

"Yes, yes, your precious pack, that family you chose over us, and in doing so, you chose over Hope."

"Is that what you were planning on telling her when she got older and asked for me? That I abandoned her?"

Bella nearly fell backwards when all of a sudden, Hayley was on their floor. She closed the doors and made her way to Hope, who was now standing in her crib. Lifting her up, she held on to her as she listened for what happened outside.

"My parents left me! Yours turned their backs on you! Look at us now, Klaus!" Bella could hear how more punches were dished out and eventually Hayley screaming in agony.

"Niklaus!" Elijah's voice sounded, probably trying to intervene.

"She deserves something better than what we had, and all I have ever wanted for her is something better!"

Bella looked at Hope and smiled at her. Hayley was right, in that. She hoped that Klaus would think the same way and quietly opened the doors. "Go to mommy," she whispered as she put the girl down on her feet and pointed at Hayley. "Go on." Hayley was still pushing and hitting Klaus and Bella wished she'd stop. The look on his face broke her heart, it was a mixture of realisation of the true extent of his actions and hurt. His face was bloody, but he would be alright.

"Fight back! FIGHT BACK!" Hayley screamed at Klaus.

When he looked over Hayley's shoulder to look at Hope, his eyes fell on Bella, who was squatting inside the room, barely out of sight. He smiled when Bella seemed to coax Hope into walking towards her parents.

Bella saw Hayley turn around, eyes widened and her hand covering her mouth in shock. Hayley was covered in blood, but she doubted that it was her own and of Klaus' doing. Guilt flashed over Hayley's face, and she seemed to be calming down. "Ohhhh. She's walking. When did she start walking?" Bella scampered backwards when Hayley walked towards them, unsure if the hybrid would start attacking her. "I missed it. I missed everything." Bella watched as Hayley picked Hope from the floor and swallowed hard when Hayley looked at her.

"Hi," Bella said sheepishly and waved.

"Who the hell are you?" Hayley growled as she held on to Hope, protectively, before looking at Klaus. "What? You wanted to give our daughter a new mother?!" she yelled at him, causing Hope to cry out. "Oh, I'm so sorry, baby, I'm so sorry," she cooed as she eyed Klaus and stepped inside the room, feeling that this new person could be a threat to all of them. With Hope still in her arms, she charged at Bella, who was still on the floor, before someone, who wasn't any of the Mikaelsons, pulled Bella to her feet and pushed her behind him.

"Hurt her and I'm gonna tan your hide, missy," the man warned her.

Klaus rushed into the room, moving himself between Hayley and his daughter and this unknown person who had Bella behind him. Even Bella knew that Klaus would protect Hope at all costs, choosing her over Bella, and she wouldn't have it any other way, on top of that, she had Klaus' blood in her, she would be fine. "Who are you and what are you doing in my home?"

"I am makin' sure that nobody touches a hair on this little lady's pretty head," he replied with a nod in greeting. "The name is Peter. I'm kinda in between last names right now as my sire is about as useful as tits on a daddy-turtle and kinda disappointed me by going after this peach. Considering with what I know, I choose her over him any day."

Bella let out a breath as her eyes widened in shock and took a few steps back. No way. There was no way that he was here to protect her. "You're Peter Whitlock!"

"Peter. Just Peter, girlie."


	17. I Don't Like Surprises

"Sooooo," Peter said as he looked at the two hybrids, the little baby and a shocked Bella. "I know you're kinda busy, so I'll go to your dungeons, sit there quietly until you guys are done in an attempt to mend fences an' confirm the prophecy and shit like that. We really need to talk."

"No, we don't," Bella said, shaking her head as the stories she'd heard about him bubbled to the surface in her head. Despite her hating the Cullens, there was someone worse out there and currently standing in the Mikaelson compound. "You're a Cold One."

"Hayley, love, go join your husband downstairs with our daughter, I'll be with you shortly," Klaus coached her softly.

"Y'all are wound tighter than a new girdle," Peter sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Go deal with your crap, then come find me in the dungeon. I promise, I'm not here to hurt anyone."

"I don't trust you," Bella said as she looked up at him. "I don't want you here."

"Tough, sweet cheeks," Peter winked at her.

Bella blinked and then looked at Klaus who seemed to be just as confused as she was. "Don't look at me, I have no idea what he's doing here! I've heard some horror stories about him but this behaviour doesn't seem to match up with those."

"Bella," Peter said as he slowly moved towards her. "I know you can tell when a supernatural creature is out to hurt you, I mean, I shouldn't even have to ask you because clearly I just saved you from being torn apart by that beastie. However, I'm going to touch you an' you can sense it yourself that I mean you no harm. Nor do I wish harm upon your friends."

"Don't," she said, jerking away, but Peter had already placed a hand on her shoulder. She blinked when she felt an intense heat coming off of him, which was insane as Cold Ones were as cold as marble. "You moved through the sun to get to me, didn't you? Are you insane?"

"Yes, but tell me what you feel."

"I… I don't know, you feel warm. I… I don't think that… well, you do wish to kill things but not me," she said confused, slightly hesitant. "What is this?"

"That's what we need to discuss, but it can wait, peaches," he pulled his hand back. "I'll be in the dungeon where I can't do any harm nor be tempted to snoop, as your new beau is so worried about that."

Klaus let out a low growl in warning.

"See what I mean?" Peter smirked and rushed out to go to the dungeons.

"Bella?" Klaus held out his hand for her to join him downstairs.

"Uhm… no, you go deal with them, you can introduce me properly later. I need a shower. Peter touched me," she said as she visibly shuddered. "And I need… I need to process this."

"As you wish," he smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, for what you've done with Hope the other moment."

"I would never have let her out if I hadn't figured out that she wouldn't get hurt, you know that, right?"

"I know," he softly kissed her. "Go take your shower, take your time."

~o.O.o~

After things had quieted down somewhat, with Jackson, Hayley and Hope moving into their new apartment across the street from the compound and Niklaus making sure that his new friend was alright, Elijah made his way into the study where Freya was nursing the bruise on her forehead. She greeted him with a weak smile as she put her pendant back into her pocket. "I supposed I was misguided to believe Hayley's return would ease tensions in this house," she said with a sigh.

Elijah smirked at that. "Misguided. Delusional. Refreshingly optimistic," he then shrugged as his smirk turned into a wide grin. "You're new." She would soon realize that tensions would run in the family for a very long time, and time was all that they had.

"Not as new as Nik's new friend," Freya said as she smiled at him, liking the light side of her brother. "What's your take on her, brother?"

"She's intriguing, if not a bit naive. Her bravery in the face of danger… it's almost as if she doesn't recognize when she's in danger or she's simply suicidal," he replied after some thought. "Her past has obviously damaged her in more ways that we're possibly aware."

Freya nodded at that. "I always believed that she was simply someone who our brother took a liking to, a special interest, like his favourite. I never thought he'd feel for her as he does."

"Yes, it's clear that he does and I fear for the girl. Niklaus' affections don't last that long, he always does something to mess things up and ends up hurting himself or others."

"Perhaps it's different this time. I agree that it might have been a wrong idea of him to move her here, especially now that I sense that there is danger to come. Not just for us, but for her, as well. There is something big at play, and it's not just a threat from the witches, it's something else. How are we to face that when we also have to face her demons?"

"The Cold Ones will be easily taken care of, it's merely dismembering them and setting them on fire," Elijah replied as he leaned against the doorway. "I'm concerned about her status as a Singer."

Freya let out a chuckle. "You do know more!"

"I have my suspicions, I seem to remember something that I've read in one of the books, but I won't know for certain until I've re-read them. I do not want to worry Niklaus for nothing," he said as he cocked his head. "Tell me, sister, when we were having lunch and you were performing that spell on her, were your intentions less than pure?"

"Eh," Freya said with a shrug. "I merely attempted to push through the magic to see what it would do. Maybe even a sloppy attempt of removing it."

"Freya," he sighed as he tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. "If our brother finds out…"

"But he won't," she said sternly. "It was harmless, but I do hope that I'll get access to some of her blood to see what's going on. I don't think it's directly related to her status as a Singer, but more to her blood, her ancestors."

"Really?" he was surprised to hear that.

"Yeah, that's as far as I got, really. It's old magic, very old. It was there when she was born. Perhaps finding out her lineage would be enlightening."

"Or perhaps you could ask Davina for a favor."

Freya laughed at that. "Elijah, I may be linked to Ancestral magic now, but Davina doesn't like me. At all. No, I'll ask Rebekah. Maybe she has some ideas on how to approach it, but I do want that blood."

"She won't part with it voluntarily," he reminded her. "Myriam told me that Niklaus and she have been repeatedly telling Bella not to give out her blood. She's offered her blood several times but they've never drank from her. Not once."

"Wow."

"I must admit, Freya, that around Bella, and everything that's concerning her, Niklaus doesn't make any sense. He truly cares for her, even when he's occupied doing something else, he always makes sure that he knows where she is. Even Hope… he trusts her with Hope."

"And Hope trusts her."

"Should you find out any more information, please do let me know."

"Of course," she smiled at him and then cocked her head again. "Now, tell me, brother, what's wrong? It's not just Bella on your mind, is it?"

"I received some unsettling information from Lucien Castle. I don't trust the source, but I... trust you," he then explained what happened at Lucien's penthouse, how he fed off a witch who told him a prophecy. Freya took his hand and pulled him downstairs while calling out for Klaus to join them.

"I want your blood," she said as she instructed Klaus and Elijah and handed Klaus a bowl. She eyed Bella, who was sitting in a chair looking over some old papers before she turned her attention back to the table. "I'm well aware that I'm greedy when it comes to blood," she continued with a shrug and lit a candle. "If you fed on this prophetic witch, her blood is still in your system. If there's a weapon that can kill you, we need to know. Why is she here?"

"Who? Bella?" Klaus replied as he watched his blood fall into the bowl. "She lives here. And, she too, has heard the prophecy. Like myself, she thinks that the witch is merely a story teller."

"Hold on!" Bella piped up. "I think she was making shit up about the whole singer thing. I never told you that I didn't believe the prophecy to be real. Don't put words in my mouth, Klaus Mikaelson, or I shall put something in your mouth that will be even tougher to swallow."

"Like what?"

"Anal beads."

Freya looked at Bella in shock. Elijah was embarrassed and didn't know where to look. Klaus simply smirked.

"I swear, I'll push them so far down your esophagus you have no other option than to swallow them and it will be painful," Bella said as she stared him down from her seat. "Then I might have to perform emergency surgery which requires me to slash open your throat and rip the beads out, and then hope that I don't rip out your vocal chords while doing so because I'm not a medical professional."

He narrowed his eyes on her, smiling slightly. "And whose beads would you use? Myriam's perhaps? I doubt she would allow you. She may have her own plans for her toys."

"You didn't pay attention when you emptied my underwear drawer in the bag. I have one with spikes," she stuck out her tongue to him.

"You're a sadist, Isabella."

"Well yes, I had clients who liked me being bossy and sadistic, do you have a problem with that, Mr. Mikaelson?" She said in her dominatrix voice. "I can make you cry like a baby if you test my patience."

"Shall we uhm, get back to finding out whether the prophecy is real or not?" Elijah stammered uncomfortably. "This is getting slightly out of hand."

"Oh, by all means continue," Freya smirked. "This is highly entertaining."

Klaus let out a growl as he sank his teeth into his hand, before holding it over the bowl to add some more blood for his sister's spell. He kept his eyes on Bella, a small smile on his lips. "I will deal with you later, I assure you of that."

"The hell you will, we have things to do," she huffed as she relaxed back in her chair.

Freya took the bowl from Klaus and set it on the table, along with three pieces of paper where the names of Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah were written on in Runes. She took a few deep breaths and tried to hide her anxiety before looking at the black candle and dipped her fingers into the blood.

As she chanted, blood started to drip from her ear, her voice becoming intense, more rough and harder to hear before she seemed to be pushing herself further and her chanting turned more powerful. It didn't take long for Elijah to grab Freya's arm to make her stop, there was no reason for her to hurt herself over this, but she ignored him and kept going.

After a while, Freya gasped as her eyes flew open and the papers started to burn, only to extinguish themselves when consumed. "It's true. You have a terrible shadow over you. Rebekah, too. If this prophecy is fulfilled, you will all fall…" she said grim. "...One by friend, one by foe, and one... by family."

Klaus and Elijah exchanged worried glances before Freya whimpered as she was drawn back into the spell. It took them some effort to remove Freya's hands from the bowl, and when they eventually managed, she was shaking like a leaf. "The witch left something out, something I can't figure out just yet but this is it…" she said as she took a deep breath. "The audience has to lose everything before the turning of the performance will make them stronger."

Elijah took his handkerchief out and started to clean Freya's hands. "So it is true then?"

~o.O.o~

While Elijah fussed over Freya, Klaus didn't have much time to process the new information, that the prophecy was a real threat, because they still had Bella's guest in the dungeon. Despite Peter saying to take their time, he didn't want to waste any. The sooner Klaus could focus on his own problems, the better, because now that the war of the sire lines was confirmed, he needed to put all his resources and energy in that.

"So, did your witch confirm your little prophecy problem?" Peter greeted Klaus as he walked in first, followed by Bella. "She tell you about the extra bit? The look on your face says she has."

Klaus let go of Bella and charged at Peter, pushing the Cold One up the wall. "I do not like magic tricks nor do I appreciate for being accused of being a fool. You will tell us what you came here for and then I'll decide whether or not I shall allow you to leave here alive."

"You're being a little out of snuff, fella," Peter said, not fighting Klaus. "I have nothing but good intentions, your little missy confirmed as much, even though she's obviously still shaking in her boots because I'm here. Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Peter and I'm a gifted Cold One. I know things. I don't know how, I don't get visions or into someone's noggin', but I just know things, and I know things about you. It's not a precise science, but you'll have to do with what I give you."

"How did you know that Bella was going to end up hurt?"

"I didn't, I knew I needed to be here at a certain time to see what needed be doin', an' I saved her life. Which is good because as of righ' now, y'all in trouble, y'see. But I don't meddle in your trouble, I'm here because of her."

"Speak," Klaus said as he released the vampire, but kept himself between Bella and Peter. "What do you know?"

"Merely helping you along on your journey," he said as he nodded to Bella. "Weren't you lookin' at some papers earlier?"

"Uhm…" Bella said as she was holding on to her folder. "Yes, the friend I stayed at set me up with a few things and I was looking over my family tree. I didn't even know she had made one."

"Allow your beau to look at the tree, he'll find it enlightening. Perhaps a lil' disturbing."

Klaus scowled as he took the folder from Bella and retrieved the papers she was speaking of. It was quiet for a moment and Bella could see the color disappeared from his face. "What?"

"Love, I told you about Katerina Petrova, didn't I?" Klaus asked carefully, fighting every urge to rip the papers apart. "And Elena Gilbert?"

"Yeah, Elena's Katherine's descendant and they're both doppelgangers, why?" Bella asked confused. She hadn't looked over the entire family tree yet, just skimmed it, in awe of Myriam's work.

"Katerina was part of a group of witches called the Travelers. They're non-existent now, or at least their numbers have dwindled so significantly that they can't do anything anymore. But, around that time, they were extremely powerful. I think you're more familiar with the term Romani gypsies, but they were slightly different from that."

"Okay, so, what does that have to do with me?"

Klaus sighed as he handed Bella the family tree back. "You share an ancestor. You're not from Katerina's line, but you are essentially cousins."

Bella blinked at him. "Ew?"

"It seems he has a type," Peter remarked with a smug smile on his face. "You see, Bella, Katerina's line is known to produce doppelgangers. She's a direct descendant of Amara, and Elena is the last one in the line - for now. There are three lines of Petrova's. There is the main line with Katerina and Elena innit, who were not the only doppelgangers but your beau never found them."

Klaus scowled at that.

"Tunnelvision does that to a person," Peter replied before continuing his story. "There was another line, from an older brother of Katerina's father, but that one ended generations ago. Your line is the last one, from the youngest brother, an' the one who practised magic the most. The last two known singers were the ones killed by Emmett. Especially in the beginning when the Cold Ones were roaming every country in the world, singers were present in abundance."

"Oh, so people like me like to off themselves, good to know," she remarked sarcastically before sitting down on a crate.

"Ah, you're worrying. You shouldn't. You see, it took the Volturi centuries to figure out that the singers weren't just more appetizing to some vampires. They weren't supposed to be weak and easy to kill. Singers were born to destroy Cold Ones."

"But how? How can a mere human kill a Cold One? That's impossible."

He nodded slowly. "True, but I'll get to that in a moment, peaches. Rumor has it that the Travelers were angry that their weapons were being destroyed so easily. Mainly because some Cold Ones, like Edward and Aro, can read minds, but also because singers are attracted to everything that's supernatural. I think you have noticed that yourself."

She sighed and hung her head somewhat in shame.

"That attraction was what got most singers killed within a short period of time when encountering a Cold One. The blood is simply too appetizing to leave it be, in a way, you were fortunate that you were, still are, the singer to a Cullen, they have more self control than others. Anyway, that brings us to this pesky word you regular vampires are struggling with now. Prophecy. Bella, my dear, you're the result of one yourself."

"What? How?"

"And that's where the story ends, I'm afraid," Peter sighed. "I need more information. You are aware that we have our limitations, an' this is mine. What I've just given you is what I turned up over seven years of digging. But I do know where to get more, so that's not a problem. The information that we need is even in New Orleans, how grand is that?"

"Where is it?" Klaus demanded. He didn't want to believe Peter's story but it sounded credible. And if it had to do with Travelers, then they really needed to figure this out. Especially because Petrova's were known to cause trouble. Damn Tatia. Katerina. Even young Elena.

"It requires some breaking and entering on your part. There's a witch repository that we need to get into and last I heard, this witch used to be a vampire or a witch or whatever. Related to you, actually."

Klaus snarled. "Great. He has that place locked up nice and tight with some powerful magic."

"Yes, but your sister can get in. Or this young brunette that has been sighted with him."

"Who are you talking about?" Bella was confused as she looked at Klaus. "Is he talking about Kol?"

"Who else?" Klaus growled. "That idiot continues to cause trouble even after his death!"


	18. Again?

After sending Freya on a trip to retrieve Kol's book or books, - Peter was confident that she could break into Kol's tomb, but Klaus suspected that Davina had stolen the books. If she had, he was going to kill her - he had breakfast with Bella as they tried to make sense of everything before she returned to bed and Klaus retreated to his study after he picked up the books from Italy from Elijah's study.

While he had more important matters to deal with - such as the prophecy - he also felt that it was pressing to figure out more about Bella. To find proof of what Peter had said. Peter was still a guest in the cellars as he requested to stay there at least until the sun went down, or until they didn't need him anymore.

"Niklaus, I just had an interesting conversation with your guest in the dungeon," Elijah said as he walked in. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" He replied as he turned the page of the journal. "Bella's problems are none of your concern; I'm trying to keep our lives separated."

Sighing, Elijah sat down across from his brother. "I don't believe you have a choice in the matter."

Klaus' eyes shot up to meet his brother's. "Are we playing nice all of a sudden?"

"You've heard the prophecy and Freya's confirmation. What if Bella will be our undoing?"

"I understand your concern, Elijah, but Bella's harmless," he shot at him. "I sincerely doubt that she'll do anything to hurt our family. I rather see her do everything in her power to help us, which is why I want to keep her away from this as much as possible so she won't get hurt."

"I doubt you can make her stay away from it all, Niklaus. She appears to be quite tenacious."

"I can at least try. Besides, the Cold Ones have more reason to fear her than we do," he said as he smugly pointed at the book he was reading. "According to this, there once was a singer who was turned by one of ours and went on a rampage, killing hundreds, if not thousands of Cold Ones."

Curiosity piqued, Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Interesting, what else does it say?"

"It doesn't give a reason as to why this happened, only that it took the Volturi quite some time to bring this singer down and kill it. The Cold Ones are quite the mysterious creatures, keeping to themselves and always attempting to erase themselves from anywhere. No one can quite tell how many there are, still. But, you'd think that an embarrassment of a singer turned into a more fragile kind of vampire killing numbers of them would be completely erased from history. This might be the only evidence there is."

"Then why is our sister breaking into Kol's little sanctuary?"

Klaus let out a groan. "You're not going to like this."

"Obviously."

"Well, we all know that Kol liked his witches, the key to deciphering what spell has been cast on Bella is in one of his books," he shrugged, turning back to the diary.

"What does it have to do with the Cold Ones?"

"Nothing."

Elijah let out a dramatic sigh as he raised his hand to rub his eye tiredly. "Niklaus. Enough with your games. What are you not telling me?"

"Bella is a distant cousin from a particular family of Travelers that we're more than familiar with," he said, not looking up. "Very distant. When I pointed it out to her, she was not pleased, at all. I believe she used the 'ew' expression after all the stories that I told her about our troubles with certain women from that family…"

"Niklaus," Elijah said disappointedly. "Have you gone and fallen for yet another Petrova?"

"Oh don't you lecture me about Petrova's, brother," Klaus shot at him. "And it wasn't as if I knew. As if Bella knew!"

"But she's not a doppelganger."

"No, well, as it was explained to us, there were three lines, three Petrova brothers with their own lineage. The oldest brother's line died out. Katerina was part of the middle one, the all too familiar doppelganger line. They dabbled a little in magic. And then there was the younger brother." Klaus continued. "As our latest guest told it, Bella's from his line. And that's why we need Kol's books, to fill in the blanks."

Elijah allowed the words to sink in for a moment. "Niklaus, Traveler magic… it's very potent, ancient. I know you said that Bella was harmless and that you trust her, but…"

"Elijah, she's not a Traveler. Yes, she may have a smidgen of their blood inside of her and that spell placed upon her, but she's not a danger. She's not them. She's not running a con; she's not insincere. Even Peter said that she was sweet."

"They could be in cahoots."

"I have considered that and dismissed it. While I am not a fan of having a Cold One in our dungeon, she has not instinctively dismissed him as a threat the way she's done with Freya."

"Again, they could be in cahoots. Niklaus, don't let your personal feelings towards her cloud your judgment."

"I am not. Speaking of the prophecy, Lucien qualifies as both friend and foe, and according to Freya's prophecy-"

"You are to beware both friend and foe. But, let us not forget family, Niklaus."

Damn him. "Lucien's two out of three- I say we put him down. Just like old times."

"Just like old times? Brother, I wonder who among our family do you suppose to have the greatest predilection for betrayal?"

"Freya."

"Oh please."

"Right now I trust Bella's spelled instincts over anyone else. She doesn't particular like you right now. However, she trusts you. She trusts me. She does not trust Freya. So brother, please."

Elijah decided to ignore him for now. They were going to have to settle it once the moment came. "Now, before we murder Lucien, some issues need to be answered. Chiefly, what is he doing here? And the wolf venom... Why would he lie to you, his sire?" Elijah idly picked up one of his brother's paint brushes and tossed it in the air a couple of times. "I'm afraid we might have to resort to something deliciously medieval here, brother…"

Klaus smirked at that. Feeling hopeful, he replied; "We? I take it you will lower yourself to associate with your bastard brother?" He rose to his feet and looked at his brother who had a fake smile on his face. "Have you finally forgiven me?"

Sighing, he put the brush down. "I will consider it…"

Victory. This is what Klaus had wanted to hear for the last six months.

"When Hayley forgives you, Gia rises from the dead, and hell freezes over. For now, however, let's just hope your little friendship with Lucien - or Bella, for that matter - doesn't disrupt our mission." Elijah turned and left the room without another word, leaving Klaus positively fuming and in shock at his brother's words.

~o.O.o~

She knew that Klaus was out, so was Elijah and Freya still hadn't returned either. So after going to the kitchen for a light snack, she found the blood bags that the Mikaelsons kept for back up and went to the dungeon to feed the non-vegetarian Cold One.

"Hungry?" She asked as she walked down the stairs. "Or did you top up before you came here?"

"I'd never say no to a little blood, Bella," Peter replied and scrunched his nose in disgust when she tossed him a bag. "Seriously?"

"Take it or leave it, but I don't want you to eat any human in New Orleans. They don't survive your bite," she said as she sat down on a crate and took a bite from her sandwich.

Sighing, he tossed the bag aside. It wasn't as if he needed to feed. Anything was better than blood bags. "I see you left your guard dog upstairs."

"He's not home, but don't even think that he left me unprotected," she said sternly and took another bite from her food and kept her eyes on Peter. "He's still keeping me safe."

He smiled at that. "I do have to admit, though, when they told me you had run away, I wasn't quite sure how long you were going to last, but look at you, you're still here."

Bella nodded. "My mom told me to run. Which is ridiculous as in that moment, she cared about my wellbeing."

"Yeah… about your mom…" He said carefully.

"I know," she replied. "Well, I don't, because I haven't looked back since I ran, but it's only obvious that Edward killed her when he found out what she had done."

Peter gave her a weird look. Glancing away, he reached up to scratch at the back of his neck and was silent for a moment before he looked back at her. "You don't seem sad about it."

"Why would I be? The thought of her being dead only made it easier for me to stay away, I had nothing left. If it hadn't been for hearing about the place where I've been staying at for the last two years, I might have just given up and allowed them to find me," Bella replied truthfully and took another bite from her sandwich. "I never really got the chance to be sad about my dad's passing, so why should I stop for my mother's passing? Our relationship wasn't the best."

"Because it's bad not to allow yourself to feel?"

She eyed him skeptically. "I feel plenty, thanks."

"True, but have you ever talked to someone about what you've gone through?"

"Both Klaus and our friend know that I've been running from the Cullens before coming here."

"Details, peaches," Peter laughed. "Have you ever gone into detail about it? Such as how you nearly got caught in Italy because you decided to fly too close to the sun by staying in Rome?"

"But I didn't," she pointed out.

"True, or what about that time in Egypt? Where you fell and broke an arm while running from Jane?"

"Peter…"

"Not to mention that time in Bulgaria where you were violated."

"Stop!" Bella threw her sandwich at him. "That's old; it's history. Nobody needs to know that, it's my history to bare. Yes, I know that I'm not okay. Yes, I know that when I get hurt, I do stupid things like running away. But that's my problem. Not yours."

"What about Klaus' problem?"

"Not his either! Mine. And he knows about where I've run. That I nearly got caught."

"But you left the bad things out."

"Yes, and you're not going to tell him either because one word from me and he'll rip you to shreds. And if he won't do it, I'm pretty sure I can find someone else to do it for me."

Peter laughed at that. "Oh, all that bravery! Deep down you're still scared, though, aren't you?"

"Fuck you," she said as she hopped off the crate and headed towards the stairs.

"Fleein' yet again!"

"Shut up!" she shot at him as she took the stairs back up. So much for her trying to be nice to him. Give him some company. By the time she reached the courtyard, she was surprised to see Hayley and Jackson standing there with Hope. "Uhm… Klaus isn't here. Neither is Elijah. Or Freya, for that matter."

"We know," Jackson replied knowingly. "Look, uhm… we don't know you, and you don't know us, but Freya told us that you and Hope are good together, and we need a babysitter. Freya said she'd be back within the hour."

Bella looked at the two and laughed. "No. I'm not her babysitter," she stated before turning her glare onto the she-wolf. "I'm not her mother. Nor will I ever be. You wanted Hope back; you got her. You find someone who wants to be her sitter. Or wait the hour until Freya comes back. But just because I'm here, doesn't make me a babysitter."

Hayley let out a growl.

"However, since I'm not completely heartless, I'm willing to watch her on one condition. You pay me. My hourly rates used to start at 75 to 100 dollars, depending on what needed to be done. Watching a baby? Eh, it's minor so 75 dollars should be good."

"You have some nerve!" Hayley growled at her.

"Fine, I can give you a family discount. What do 50 dollars sound like?"

"Like me snapping your neck!"

"Hayley," Jackson chastised her before looking at Bella. "Come on, be civil here."

Bella crossed her arms over each other. "Fine. But she owes me, and Klaus, an apology for last night. And that's just the start of my grievances."

"I'll kill you," Hayley spat.

"Please do," Bella replied before taking Hope from Jackson. "Have a fun date and I do hope to get that apology after you've calmed down somewhat or this will be the last time I'll be babysitting her at your request."

"Thank you," Jackson said with a nod. "And I'll pay you, I promise."

"Of course," Bella said as she watched Hope put a strand of her hair in her mouth and watched the two wolves walk away, Hayley still in a foul mood. "Let's go nap," she said to Hope and headed to the bedroom.

~o.O.o~

When Klaus finally came home that night and had a conversation with his brother, she made him go to bed. It didn't matter that Freya had managed to get the book from Davina - telling her that she wanted to help an innocent was the deal breaker, it didn't matter what Klaus had learned or done that day, he needed sleep.

She had lit some candles and thought about maybe burning a stick of incense, but decided against it as vampires had sharper senses. He allowed her to push him down on the bed, and she started to undress him as she made light conversation with him, telling him to forget his worries just for the night and relax, enjoy himself.

Using some lightly scented massage oil - one of Myriam's concoctions used on vampire clients that she managed to snag a bottle of, she carefully started to rub it into Klaus' skin, feeling him relax under her touch. Her attentions were pure to relax him, get the tension out of his body and make him fall asleep without the use of her superpower; sex.

Of course, Klaus' body was enjoying her touch very much, and he was very much erect as she kept caressing him, massaging him, and it was tempting to give his cock the attention that it so desperately needed, she wanted his cock in her mouth, and she'd suck him dry…

Shaking her hormones out of her head, she kept going until Klaus was sound asleep underneath her touch. Undressing, she crawled into bed with him and covered the both of them with a blanket as she crawled against him. At least for the night, they were in a nice, problem and worry free bubble.

~o.O.o~

"I left the book in my study, it's fascinating, I assume," Klaus said as he walked in front of her, clearly recharged after a good night's sleep. "And I thought you needed to read it before we would share this information with your friend in the dungeon."

"Oh, okay," Bella said as she picked up the pace to keep up with him, only to bump into him when he stopped dead in his tracks when he had entered his study. "A little warning would have been nice!" She shot at him before going over to the desk and eyeing the old book.

Klaus eyed his sister who was doing yoga. In his study. She had a room for this. Why was she in his study? "What are you doing here?"

Freya sighed in annoyance. "I live here."

"Yes, obviously," Klaus said as he eyed her while she changed positions. "I just hadn't realized you were back from wherever it is you go to when you leave! Perhaps I was thrown off by the lack of strange gentleman callers perusing the contents of my refrigerator this morning."

"Ah," she smiled widely at him, clearly amused. "Your concern for my whereabouts is touching, Nik, but same could be said about your little friend, couldn't it? You know, the one I had to get the book for? I'm not saying anything about her, either."

"Well, not out in the open. Perhaps behind our backs."

"Most definitely," she replied playfully and winked at her brother.

"I simply want to know who is here at any given moment! I hardly think that's too much to ask."

"Well, as long as we're talking attendance…"

Bella looked up when Hayley breezed into the study, followed by an amused looking Elijah right on her heels. This family sure knew how to make their entrances. Sighing softly, she did what she did best and made herself invisible by engrossing herself into the book. It was interesting what she was reading so far. It was almost as if she was getting a history lesson, as the start of the Traveler community was described and it looked like the entire book was merely a journal of important happenings. And the Traveler community was old, ancient.

Bella loved history and to know that she had ancestors who dated so far back was exhilarating. The magic was an added bonus though it was far more interesting to read what they believed in so long ago.

"Oh, good! It's my not-so-loving older brother and my former one-night-stand! What a nice, normal family gathering," Klaus said mockingly. Bella wouldn't be surprised if this conversation would end up in yet another verbal sparring contest.

"Charming. Elijah was just catching me up on how you have no clue which one of your long-lost buddies you can trust and which one is trying to kill you."

"Well, clearly what the situation needs is more opinions," he said sarcastically before looking at his brother. "I assume you told her about the bloody prophecy?"

"I was just getting to that," Elijah said amused as he eyed Hayley, she didn't look pleased, at all.

Hayley looked back at Klaus and did her best attempt to stare him down, which didn't work, of course. "Now."

"Well, it appears my old mate Lucien has acquired a genuine seer, and to prove his good intentions, he got her to show us some rather dire visions of future doom. It's grim stuff, really- not for the faint of heart."

"Whose doom are we talking about, here? Because if it's yours, I think we're all okay with that."

"Oh come on!" Bella cried out from her position at the desk. "Can't you guys discuss things normally without idle threats and snark?"

"What is she doing here?" Hayley demanded as she pointed at Klaus.

"She lives here," he replied in the same tone of voice that Freya had used on him just moments before.

"Obviously," Hayley rolled her eyes at him. "She has no reason to be included in this conversation."

"I'm not, I mind my own business making snarky comments from the sideline," Bella replied angrily. While she was kept up to date by Klaus, all conversations concerning the prophecy after Freya having validated it had been held without her. She wasn't too happy about it, but she accepted it because she was the new one around. "And just for your information, they're all on the chopping block. Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah."

Klaus' grin grew bigger as he looked at Hayley. "But, chin up! This witch claims her visions are constantly evolving. So, you may just get your wish!"

"Well, I want to meet this psychic witch. Tonight." Hayley demanded, leaving no option for anyone to object.


	19. Open Wide

She never thought about having to spend Halloween inside. Mostly alone. It had been the most fun to be at Débauche and to work during special holidays such as these. Last year, she was dressed up as a zombified Disney princess that got her a lot of attention from freaks, but it had been so much fun.

And now she was stuck inside. Away from the club and reading a book about Travelers. It was such an extensive book, and she didn't want to skim over it because she was afraid she was going to miss things. She wanted the book to kick start Peter's wonder brain, but she had promised Klaus not to do that before she read it all herself. And without him.

Elijah and Hayley were going to a party thrown by Elijah's little vampires, and Klaus was hunting down Lucien to have another encounter with Alexis. Freya was out, partying. At least Bella wasn't stuck with Hope duty. The worst part of it all that Klaus had asked her to stay in the study or the bedroom and not go to the courtyard, that the servants would make sure she was well taken care of.

She wasn't sure what was worse; living at the Compound or Débauche. All she knew was that she wanted to party. She had swung the balcony doors open and heard music and laughter coming from the streets. Having that as her music, she continued to read the book. Bella started to pay more attention when she came to the Petrova's. There was nothing about doppelgangers or singers, much to her disappointment, but that was because they were rare things. And as far as singers, the Cold Ones liked to hide their truths.

Klaus had told her that they only learned of the line of Petrova's being common for doppelgangers after they met Katerina, it was the line that he and his family had traced back to Tatia, who was in their village and the two were the spitting image of each other. Elijah had a book with that entire lineage, and not much of it, but this book, Kol's book, was so much more.

She didn't know the guy, but she thought he was awesome. Smart, to have a book on some very powerful witches, where, more often than not, their weaknesses were being discussed, and how they managed to overcome them. If this book was the key to knowing what was wrong with her, then she definitely owed him a drink in the afterlife.

It took her a few more chapters to get to the line of the youngest brother of Katerina's father, and she was fascinated by what she was reading. It was truly the origins of her family. However, there was nothing mentioned about the line being extra special. She kept reading, and once she got to the juicy parts, on how the Travelers existed and who were in it, a few familiar names popped up for doing a lot of bad stuff.

That, and the fact that the Travelers seemed to be the root of all evil as well when it came to Cold Ones. She had gold in her hands. This had been one book talking about the origins of the Cold Ones that the Volturi hadn't been able to destroy. Well done, Kol.

This could give Peter some more insight as well. Jumping out of the chair, she made her way over to the alcohol and poured herself a generous glass. She wanted to party, and since she was alone, she was going to party by herself.

Taking the glass with her, she went to the bedroom to grab her iPad and sent Myriam a text message, wishing her a happy Halloween before connecting it to her portable speakers and pressed her playlist. She was going to get drunk and dance all night until Klaus would come home and if she'd remember, she was going to tell him what she'd learned. If she didn't remember, well, then he'd just had to wait until she'd sobered up.

Bella lost track of time when all of a sudden she could hear Klaus complain from his study that she was playing her music too loud and that he needed to have a chat with Marcel about the night's events. Grumbling, she turned it down somewhat and poured the remainder of the decanter in her glass and continued drinking.

She couldn't wait for Klaus to be done. She had something important to share, but what was it? Klaus sounded angry and then the voices left the study to go downstairs or something. She didn't care. Bella turned her music back up and went to look for more booze as she downed the glass and nearly bumped into the doorpost. Giggling, she found a full decanter of bourbon on a side table - that was one good thing about living with vampires, there was alcohol on every table, or it seemed that way and brought it back to the bedroom.

It didn't take much longer for Klaus to join her. She caught him watching her from the door as she danced and tried not to bump into things. "I thought I told you to turn it down, love."

"Oh, poop," she huffed as she stumbled to her iPad and turned off the music. "I'm having fun. It's Halloween, and I have nowhere to go, no one to entertain… I mean, you were gone all day, leaving me with this boring book and hearing people in the streets having fun…" She made her way over to him and sighed. "And I don't know if I'm drowning my sorrows or celebrating, how grand is that? I am so drunk that I forgot what I was doing or what the reason is!" She tugged on his shirt and pulled him towards the bed. "Come."

"You're acting like a spoilt brat, love," he mused as he watched her, making sure she was alright. "I need to tell you something before Elijah comes in and tells you the same story but from his point of view."

"Uh-huh," she said as she pushed him onto the bed and sat down on top of him. She then wasn't sure what she wanted to do, before remembering the night before, where she had massaged him, and his cock seemed lonely. Smirking, she slid down his legs, off the bed to help him out of his pants.

"I uh… well, Lucien and I went to crash Elijah's exclusive party with the Strix."

"Uh-huh," she said as she yanked his pants over his shoes, losing everything in the process. Putting her hands on his thighs, she looked up at him with a smile on her face as she was sitting between his legs.

"We came in with a bunch of girls to make sure that Freya could slip in without detection."

"Okay," she said as she licked her lips, remaining eye contact with him. "Was that it?"

"Elijah might say that I was too handsy."

Her smile turned into a pout. "Were you?"

His eyes widened in shock and disbelief. How could she believe that he was? "No! No, of course not!"

"I think you were," she said sadly. "Because you were having too much fun all day and you forgot all about me. You left me here. You didn't even call me or send someone to check on me. What if I got killed by Peter? Or by someone else? I could have stupidly fallen over the balcony and dropped dead on the floor."

"You're silly, Bella."

Grabbing his cock with a firm hand, she squeezed it, hard. "I'm drunk off my ass! Of course I'm silly!"

"Let go of the goods, love," he said with a strained voice.

"Fuck you, I'm going to suck you dry," she said as she loosened her grip and took him into her mouth.

Despite the fact that he would never object to receiving a blow job, he had to stop her. She was drunk and irrational. He had let her go on for a bit so that she, too, could blow off some steam but she needed to sleep it off. He tucked his legs underneath him as he pushed her shoulders. "No," he crooned as she released him. He pulled her up and carefully put her down on the bed. "We're not going to engage in sexual activities when you're positively drunk."

"But…"

"That was your rule at Myriam's, that should be your rule now," he said as he tucked her in bed, it was a good thing that she was already in her underwear, so he didn't have to undress her. "Unless the both of us are equally drunk."

"That won't ever happen. You'd have to drink two crates of bourbon to get there," she pouted.

"Sleep. I'll feed you my blood in the morning to cure your hangover."

~o.O.o~

She groaned when the sun hit her face the following morning. Pulling her pillow over her head, she squeezed her eyes shut as thousands of demented midgets were using jackhammers to redecorate the inside of her skull. Bella had let herself go the night before. Too much bourbon. What was it? An entire bottle and then some?

The smell of fried eggs and bacon made her come to her senses somewhat, and when she peeked from under her pillow, Klaus was just setting a full English breakfast down on her side table with a big glass of orange juice. If she had to be honest, she was famished. She couldn't even remember if she had dinner last night. Crawling out from her little bunker, she sat up and smiled at him, thankful for the breakfast. "Hi."

"Morning," he said with a grin and kissed the top of her head. "Eat up, how's your head?"

"Eh, troublesome," she squinted her eyes when he moved out of the way, and the sun hit her face again. "I'm sorry, I kinda let myself go last night." She pulled the plate into her lap and sighed. "Tell me everything."

And he did. Everything that they had found out, rescuing Alexis, losing Alexis, everything. By the time Klaus was done telling her, she had wiped her plate clean and was about to trade the plate of her glass of orange juice. He could already see that she was pinking up and doing better. He had hid a little bit of his blood in the baked beans and tomato juice, figuring that drinking blood on an empty stomach wouldn't be a productive means of getting her cured of her hangover. "And now it's your turn to share."

"Oh!" She said brightly before downing the glass of juice and hopped off the bed to get back into her clothes. "You have to see this. This will shed so much light on the origin of the Cold Ones; you have no idea!"

"I thought you were reading up on Travelers?"

"Yes, I was," she smiled as she zipped her pants and threw on one of his shirts before taking his hand and dragging him to the study. "They were _created_ by Travelers. By complete accident, of course, but created by them nonetheless."

"What?"

Bella nodded. "Mmhmm. Something like 2000 years before someone named Quetesh…?"

"Ah, the Egyptian goddess of sexual pleasure and sacred ecstasy," Klaus mused before it hit him. "Qetsiyah?"

She rolled her eyes at him before nodding. "Yes. Anyway, the Travelers only grew in power over the centuries, but it all started with an accident. A few members of the Travelers wanted more power for themselves, at first, they were one with nature, and they decided to upset the balance. They were enslaved and made to build the Pyramids at Gizeh, and wanted to speed up the process because it was hard work," Bella explained as she pulled him towards the book to show him. "They dreamt of finishing their task and taking over from the Pharaoh at the time to better themselves, to create more wealth. It was during a regular day at sunrise in the camp when they decided to piss off the deities. It killed the entire camp. Or that's what they initially thought. From the ashes and ruins of the camp, the laborers rose, and their skin was reflecting the sun like tiny crystals."

"You're joshing me!"

"Nope," Bella shook her head with a smile. "The remaining Travelers lost their magic for a while and were banished to other lands such as Romania and Bulgaria. Some went to Greece. There were tales that one day, by the grace of the Gods, power would be restored to the Travelers and that they needed to fix their past misdeeds of creating the men made out of stone, as they were wreaking havoc over the entire continent. Now, around 100 years BC, the Travelers, especially in Greece, had finally been able to prove to the Gods that their past misdeeds were just that, the past. Sure, they were well off and revered by the regular folk, often being showered with gifts such as jewelry and food, but they only took what they needed."

Klaus grumbled as he sat down in the chair and pulled Bella onto his lap. He'd always known that his Bella was a history buff, but for her to piece together all the clues in the book, as they were just that, was just amazing. Or probably a remnant of the spell cast upon her. "Please continue."

"There was a gifted witch at the time called Qetsiyah. It appeared that she had mastered immortality and wanted to gift that to her fiancé Silas, but before that, her most powerful spell had been an idea, at first, her mentor had improved it and cast it, causing yet again an amount of Travelers to lose their lives, but this time for good. Over the centuries they had observed that some men and women of stone had shown interest in people, claiming that their blood smelled better than others, and how those people ended up dying. A lot. Qetsiyah's idea was to empower those better smelling humans to be the death of the Cold Ones, to clean up the mess that their ancestors had created centuries before."

"Interesting."

"The spell required so much magic, and so much energy that it required the sacrifice of half the Traveler population and until the 10th or 11th century, there was no actual evidence that it had worked."

"So for 1200 years, they weren't sure if their sacrifice had been worth it? That's just stupid."

"Or ingenious," Bella pointed out. "It was prophesied that a new breed of Cold Ones would rise. They referred to them as Hot Ones at first, as they were seen as the complete opposite. While both were against nature, the Hot Ones would be able to blend in more with the regular folk as their skin wouldn't sparkle in the sun. They would be indestructible and populate the Earth."

"Are you talking about my family and our progeny?" He was intrigued now. He had always wondered why there were two types of vampires. Granted, they always stayed clear of each other, respecting each other's culture, but how was this possible?

"Well, you told me about how your mother sought out the witch of your village after Henrik died, to turn you all into immortals. That witch was a descendant of Qetsiyah and she flat out refused because she knew what danger it could bring to mess with nature. Remember, due to her immortality spell, she created the doppelgangers."

"My mother took it upon herself to turn us into immortals."

"And voila, the Hot Ones were born," she kissed him on the cheek. "And I must say, you are very hot."

"But just to be clear, love, we are not related to the Cold Ones at all, are we?"

"Oh, no, no, I don't believe so," she smiled at him. "You're pure blooded Vikings."

"I'm not a pureblood, love."

"I know, but as far as this book tells me, no Traveler went to Scandinavia, probably because it was too cold, and the Americas were too far away," she turned a few more pages and pointed at it. "This is give or take a few hundred years after you were created and had spawned little sirelings of your own. This story tells the story of Carmen, daughter of a non-practicing Traveler from Italy, and she was a singer. Like, a real singer. But she fell in love with a Hot One and a Cold One at the same time. The Cold One lusted after her for her blood, and the Hot One actually cared about her. Carmen's father remembered the story of how some people smelled better to Cold Ones than others and told her to be aware. She was too much of a talented singer to be killed."

"What happened?"

"The Hot One took her away, he took her to foreign countries and had her sing for royalty. They earned quite some money over the years and, after a while, they encountered the same Cold One at a French court. Afraid that he was going to lose her, the Hot One turned her, unlocking the spell that was cast centuries before. Carmen found that she could easily kill the Cold One. And she did. Her blood turned into a beacon and for years, Cold Ones came to her wherever she performed, and she killed them all."

"Are you serious?" Klaus laughed. "That sounds bloody awesome!"

"It does," Bella smiled at him. "It took Aro and the other Volturi nearly 100 years to be able to end her life, but the damage had been done. Carmen, the singer, had slaughtered half of the Cold One population. Quite the embarrassment."

"And that's where the term singer comes from?"

"I guess," Bella said with a shrug. "I think Peter can fill in the blanks about the spell, what it does, exactly. This book isn't a grimoire, more like a journal."

"Anything else that sprung to your attention?"

Bella nodded with a sigh. "But we'll get to that later, okay? Let's talk to Peter about this and see what he has to say. Maybe this information will do nothing for him, maybe it will."

"Has he been fed at all?"

"We'll take a fresh blood bag downstairs, but he's a little bit of a purist," she shrugged as she got off Klaus' lap. "He'll eat when he's hungry, just like any other household pet."


	20. Round Two

"First of all, I am _not_ , or will I ever be, your pet!" Peter said as he waited for them at the bottom of the stairs. "I heard that, and I'm offended."

"I'm surprised you haven't gone crazy down here," Bella said as she tossed him another blood bag. "Or did you leave last night?"

Peter smiled at that. "I went to the next town over and snacked."

"Peter!" Bella scolded him, pulling the blood bag out of his hands and gave it to Klaus instead. "You wouldn't snack on people!"

"Ah, you said in New Orleans. And I didn't. No worries, peaches, I'm good at hiding my kills," he said amused as he watched her. "Besides, I don't know what Edward has told you, but I only feed on criminals, not innocents."

"Well then, mate, you're more than welcome to feed on criminals in my city, that is, if you are good at hiding your kills," Klaus said with some humor in his voice. "I know you lot kill your food."

"Much appreciated," Peter said with a nod before letting out a breath. "I had to strain myself to hear what you just told him, but wow, those Travelers. They get around. Even I didn't know the origins of the Cold Ones."

"I think that the Volturi want to keep it hidden that you were an accident," Bella said as she sat down on the crate she had been sitting on the day before and before that. "Highly embarrassing to know that you're the product of a screw-up."

"You know what I think? I think you should contact Kol Mikaelson. I'm sure that he's more than willing to tell you all about that spell of yours."

"Kol's dead," Klaus snarled. "So get talking."

"I just did. Contact your dead brother. I am not a witch, and he's knowledgeable about many witch covens. Unless you know someone else," Peter countered as he looked at Klaus. "The new regent here is a power hungry bitch and not on speaking terms with you. Nor would I believe that she's knowledgeable. The other witch in Mystic Falls is also quite new. You need your brother."

"And he is dead."

"And you have a friend who has his Dark Objects, or some of 'em. I'm pretty sure she has one that can contact the spirit world." Peter then smirked. "Or ask your sister Freya."

"You're of no help; you know that?" Klaus countered and pointed at Bella. "The sooner we get to the bottom of her problems, the sooner I can give my full attention to mine!"

"Or, put her issues on the back burner, tend to your problems and make sure that Bella doesn't die until you have the full story. But you do require your brother's knowledge for this," he said dismissively. "To understand the spell, what it does and why."

"Or, some other witch could have a go at it and cast a spell on her to find it out."

"Unless you want that person to die, I don't recommend it. What happened to your sister was a warning. I think the second time it'll be deadly."

Bella cleared her throat. "In all honesty, I don't care about the spell. What I like to know is if I'm like that Carmen."

Sighing, Peter tiredly rubbed his eyes. He had enough. Both Bella and Klaus were stubborn and if they weren't willing to go on a little hunt to find the truth themselves, then so be it. He wasn't going to offer it. "Once the sun goes down, I'm out of here. I tried nudging you in the right direction, and it's fine if you don't wanna follow up."

"What? You're leaving?"

"Yes," Peter said as he looked at her. "I shouldn't have come in the first place. Well, yes, I should have; otherwise, you'd be dead. But don't worry, with the impending sire lines war, the Volturi has forbidden any Cold One to enter Louisiana. Everyone's leaving the state until they're allowed back in."

"What does that mean?"

"That means, Bella, you can go out and party. Go shopping. Eat pastries. The Volturi doesn't want any of us to be involved in this war as they're afraid that it'll cause massive casualties on our end." He then smirked as he looked at Klaus, knowing that the hybrid wasn't happy about what Peter had just told Bella, before he turned back to Bella. "However, it doesn't mean that they don't have other ways of getting to what they like to have, so stay safe." He then pointed at Klaus. "Bella can't transition yet. If she does, it's no harm done, but you don't want that. The last part of the witch' prophecy is about you two, but do keep in mind that Bella has her own prophecy to fulfill."

"What's that?"

"Sorry peaches, not going to spoil even more. Like I said, you're on your own now." Peter said as he mimed to zip his mouth shut and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the hybrid and the human.

Bella narrowed her eyes at him. She was glad to see him go, but on the other hand, she wished that he would have been able to help more. Edward had been wrong about him. Yes, Peter was an asshole, but he was alright. He was probably the only Cold One who was alright. "Then I want to thank you, Peter. For your… usefulness and for not killing me."

He just winked at her and waved.

"Niklaus!" Elijah's voice came from the courtyard. "You need to see this!"

Sighing, Klaus helped Bella to get off the crate and directed her towards the stairs, allowing her to go in front of him. He then turned to Peter and scratched the back of his head. "Two questions; is my current predicament more significant than hers?"

Peter nodded and then shrugged.

"Is she safe with me? Have I done the right thing in bringing her here?"

He was surprised about Klaus showing vulnerability towards him and sighed. "Yes and no, it's all a matter of perception. However, keep doing what you've been doing. Leave her out of your shit, fill her in, but don't actively show her off as much as you'd like to do so. Choose wisely. And as for your third question; I'll be around. Just not here."

"I didn't…"

"Yes, you wanted me to ask that. Like you, I only have her best interest at heart. It's obvious you both want to see this through on your own terms. So my guidance isn't appreciated. I get that, and that's alright. So good luck."

"Niklaus!"

"And you might want to check that out. Like now."

Running upstairs, he made his way through the doors and stopped short next to Bella and Elijah, who were both too shocked to speak. When he looked at the display; a girl who slashed her wrists in the middle of a sea of lavender sprigs, he already knew what was going on. Aurora. Horrified, he made his way over to the girl to check if she was still alive, but it was clear that she wasn't. Seeing the note in her hand, he took it and read it before quietly giving it his brother.

"Roses are red; lavender is blue. Find me before I find you," he read, now also realizing what was going on.

Not liking the deafening silence, Bella spoke up. "So, another one of your crazy ex-girlfriends, Klaus?"

~o.O.o~

"I remember her being a better poet," he scowled as he reread the letter.

"Oh, I don't say that this lacks poetry at all," Elijah said as he, too, checked on the body to see if there was still any life inside of it.

Throwing her hands in the air, Bella walked away. If what Peter said was right and she was now safer in New Orleans than she had been previously, maybe she was going to visit Myriam. That would be a great adventure! She also realized that there was music in the streets so maybe enjoy that for a while too. Then, on the other hand, Peter could have been wrong, and it was better to stay inside the compound. She was going to email Myriam to come by. That was better.

After a couple of minutes, Klaus walked into the study, looking pissed. "Why did you leave?"

"You seemed distracted by the poetic display," she countered with a shrug. "Who is she?"

"Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm not but someone who goes to such lengths as arranging that," she pointed out the window, "Must have meant something to you. Or you to her."

"Love, I've been around for so long and…"

"Spare me the bullshit, Klaus," she shot at him. "Tell me as it is."

"It's Aurora de Martel, Tristan's sister."

"Tristan as in… Elijah's Tristan?"

Klaus nodded slowly. "While Lucien was the first person I turned, albeit by accident, Tristan was Elijah's, and Aurora was Rebekah's. It makes sense that Aurora's here, she'd never stray far from her brother, or Lucien, for that matter," Klaus pulled Bella into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Elijah and I are going out to hunt her down and kill her, as we should have done so many years ago."

"Is she dangerous?"

"She's insane, and she might have an obsession with me."

"Were you two lovers?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"You like the crazies, huh?" She said half-jokingly.

"She wasn't crazy then, and I honestly thought I loved her, but from one day onto the next, she saw me as a monster, that I wasn't going to be any good to her, and that she could find someone better," he replied truthfully. "In all honesty, perhaps it was for the better, we were alerted by Mikael's presence and had to run. Kol and I had too much fun in those days," he reminisced fondly. "However, she is the weakest link, and we're going to put a stop to her."

"What if you can't?"

"Then we'll have to figure out something else. It's likely that like Lucien, she has access to means that we're not aware of," he then sucked in a breath. "I do have a contingency plan in mind, but you're not going to like it."

"And what's that?"

"Convince her that I still care for her and hope to sway her to my side, working with us instead of against us," he looked Bella in the eyes, hoping to see a reaction but what she was going to say next was unexpected.

"Would you go as far as kissing her? Have sex with her?"

"I hope it won't come to that."

"But what if it does?" She tugged on his shirt as she looked up to him. "I know you said that I should be a one man girl when I moved in here, and I'm honoring that. I'm no longer working for Myriam, and I've been here the entire time."

"Love is a very powerful emotion, easily to be exploited. So while I hope it won't come to that, it might. Which is why I'm telling you this now, to keep you in the loop. I might have to bring her here."

"But what about me?"

"Well," he said hesitant and let out a breath, bracing himself in case she'd hit him. "I'd hoped that we could continue the ruse of you being a whore."

Bella blinked at that, not moving away from him as she thought about his words, and then Peter's words about letting things be the way they were and she slowly nodded. "Sure, why not. I appreciate you being honest with me, too, you know, considering me in your decision, but you shouldn't have to do that."

"Why not, love?" He was surprised by her reaction. He had truly anticipated her hitting him or rage at him for even suggesting such a thing.

"Because technically, we're not dating. We haven't confessed our love for each other yet; you haven't officially asked me to be your girlfriend, only to move in. We share a bed, but that's it, so for all intents and purposes, I'm still a whore. Just a very well taken care of whore."

The verbal slap hurt more than the anticipated physical one that still didn't come, but she was right. "If this is what can keep you safe…"

"I know, but you'll have to talk to Lucien about this too. He's a dick, but I think he genuinely wants to help you," she started. "And inform Elijah and Freya about this."

"I will."

"And if you're making this plan B, then I will have to have my room. Or, I'm keeping this room, and you'll have to find a new room." She smirked at that. "Yes. I like that idea. This bedroom is mine. You can have the other one across the parlour."

He sighed at that. "But I like this bedroom."

"So do I, and most of my stuff is in here, and I'm not going to move again."

"Very well. Can I now join my brother in looking for Aurora?"

"Yes. Bring me some pastries when you come back."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're my whore, and I don't want you to get fat," Klaus grinned and let go of her before creating as much distance as possible between her and him before she could retaliate.

~o.O.o~

While Myriam and Elijah had their rules, Klaus and Myriam had their rules; there weren't rules for Bella inviting Myriam over. She missed her. It had only been a couple of days, but she missed Myriam and the club. And the girls. And the drama-free environment.

With Klaus and Elijah on the hunt for Aurora, Bella knew that this was yet another day where she had to entertain herself, and she hated it. So she had set up a sitting area at the front facing balcony to watch the masses of people walk through the street, listening to some good music and smelling all the lovely foods, and waited for Myriam to arrive.

Myriam did not disappoint. She had gone to Big Burger and had ordered Bella's favourite burgers for lunch. With a nice cold beer and good company, they watched as the people kept moving below them. "Can't you just send me like stuff through email for me to work with?"

Myriam laughed and shook her head. "What's the use of that? I'd have to put those numbers in myself and then send them to you to do what, exactly? Re-check them?"

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense," Bella scrunched up her nose before digging into a new burger. "There's a Cold One in the dungeon."

"What!"

She shrugged as she kept eating. "He saved me when Hayley tried to kill me. It's Peter. He's a pain in the neck but he offered some good information, and he's leaving once the sun's gone."

"Bella…"

"He's no threat! I promise. He's been on his best behaviour and even offered to stay in the dungeon by himself. He's been quite helpful in helping us figure out what's going on with me," she took a swig of her beer. "He also said that Klaus' problem is bigger than mine, so yeah, we're going to focus on that first."

"That prophecy Elijah told me about?"

Bella nodded. "It seems that Lucien wasn't the only one coming to New Orleans to protect his sire."

Myriam winced at that. "Aurora's a nutcase. The moment Klaus told me about her was the moment I started to look into her. She's unpredictable and completely obsessed."

"You really should have been here a few hours ago. Aurora left quite the display that the cleaning crew just about finished cleaning up before you showed up."

"Bella, she's dangerous."

"So you said. So Klaus said."

"Then come home with me."

"I am home, Myriam," she smiled at her. "And Klaus does what he can to keep me out of all of this - granted, I feel a little bored at times, but he does everything he can to keep me safe. Now that those three are in town, I'm his live-in whore."

Myriam nearly spat out her beer. "You're his what?!"

Sighing, Bella finished eating her burger. "It's fine, Myriam, really. It's not as if Klaus and I have declared our love for each other. It's more like… a silent understanding between us that we are together, we just don't… or can't… or won't… admit it out loud. We both know it. He wants me close and safe. This is the only way."

"And what if he decides to exploit love? He's not a stranger to exploiting the one emotion that makes every man and woman weak."

"It's okay."

"What!"

"What?" Bella whined. "He's been my friend for two years in which I slept with him, but also other men. Why shouldn't I allow him to be able to be all that he can when he needs to crush his enemies? I trust him, completely."

"I thought you two said no sharing?"

"We're not. He has a brilliant, strategic mind and exploiting someone's weaknesses is what he does best. Hell, I might drill a peephole in the wall and just watch them when they have sex," Bella huffed. "Or beg for inclusion."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Myriam shook her head. "Sure, Aurora would love to include you, but she'll likely kill you afterwards."

"Eh, yeah, can't have that happen yet," Bella sighed as she took another swig of her beer. "Okay forget about inclusion… hey, can I be included in your and Elijah's sexcapades then?"

"Down girl," Myriam laughed. "We're not there yet. We still have to go on our McDonalds date and no; I'm not going to have sex with you nor share Elijah with you. It's wrong, and Klaus will likely kill us."

"Yes, you," Bella grinned. "Not me. I'll just come back."

A loud crash could be heard coming from the courtyard, causing Bella and Myriam to cross the room and hang over the barrister to look what was going on. "Round two!" Bella giddily said as she watched as Klaus and Elijah were physically fighting each other. The bar was in pieces, along with several bottles.

"This happens a lot?"

"Eh," Bella said with a shrug. "I might complain a little that I'm bored, but at least once a day something's smashed, someone's getting punched or verbally smacked around. Instant entertainment. Who needs Netflix?"

"What you did to Aurora, to me- you set my course!" Klaus scowled at his brother as he readied himself for more.

"I protected you! I protected our family. Aurora was the sister of a lunatic and a powerful lunatic at that! Father was in pursuit. What was I supposed to do, Niklaus? And despite every one of your despicable deeds, I alone have always stood by you."

"And why is that? Guilt! You knew that your secret betrayal was the cause of everything I became!" Klaus shouted at his brother before lunging at him and continuing their fight. Eventually, Klaus' hybrid face showed up, and as he fanged out, he bit his brother. It was hard to find out who was coming out on top, before Klaus was being thrown into a wall, leaving a dent as he slid down the wall.

"All this blame! Will you ever look at yourself? I have carried you for centuries, Niklaus. No more! You want a fight? So be it."

The fight seemed to go on for ages as Klaus and Elijah kept shouting at each other, letting themselves really go and making the building shake every once in awhile when one of them got smacked into a wall or support beam, but eventually, they quieted down and retreated to the dining room.

"Wow," Myriam said as she turned around to lean against the barrier. "I know that it's serious business, but wow, that was…"

"Yep," Bella said, slightly concerned about Klaus, but knew that he was still alive, and he'd heal. "Let Freya deal with them; we have a beer to finish."

"Just like that?"

"This is a family dispute," Bella said as she walked back to the other balcony and took her bottle to take a swig from it. "I'll hear the reason of the fight later."


	21. BORED

As she had expected, Klaus told her everything that had happened that night when they were in bed, even the fight; that he had found it exhilarating to finally reach a mutual understanding with his brother, even though, sadly, the original plan of killing Aurora had somewhat failed. Bella quipped that it was a good thing though that they hadn't brought the bag filled with her old clothes to the club and she was now sorting through the clothes, making sure that the bedroom was sprawled with them. And her shoes.

Oh, her shoes. They were definitely the kind of shoes that screamed 'hooker' and she was damn proud of it.

Even though she and Klaus had agreed to her playing up her part, didn't mean that she was going to let him off easily. No, she had chosen the clothes that he had responded quite well to in the past, and since she was in relative safety, she went out by herself to get herself some nice-smelling bath products and perfume that Klaus hadn't packed for her.

Being out by herself was quite scary. But she knew that Klaus was in the Quarter, somewhere, trying to find Aurora and see what she was up to, whose side she was on and what not, so Bella was pretty sure that if she'd be in danger and would call loud enough, or even scream, he'd find her.

She loved the perfumery on Royal Street; she had just never imagined it being so close to Klaus' home, though. She usually ordered from them online, but to do it in person now was just too good to pass up on. She ordered some rose scented, lavender scented and orange blossom scented perfume, body shower, lotion, and shampoos. What she loved about this store was that she could buy everything she needed, and they weren't as intrusive in scent as the regular high-end brands out there. It was perfect.

Bella then went to buy some handmade candy and chocolate, and that dress she saw in a window was going to be hers too. It was only then that she noticed that she was being followed by someone she didn't know and instead of stopping for a beignet or something else to eat, she went straight home.

It was a shame, though, she had loved being outside in the sun, walking around as if she didn't have a care in the world. It was only then that she realized that the person following her couldn't have been a Cold One, but with everything that was going on in Klaus' life, she figured she'd done the best thing she could have done and flee.

She helped the housekeeper to make the other bedroom look as if Klaus had been living in it for years, transferring most of his clothes there, reposition the art and make it look home to him before she had another surge of bravery. Bella went across the street to buy additions to her maintenance toiletry bag, such as razors. Débauche usually provided their girls with it, so she never had to worry about it, but she had to take care of it herself now, which was fine.

By the time she was satisfied with herself, she had made her way down to the kitchens to fetch some dinner for herself. There was nobody there; the place was deserted, and she didn't quite feel like cooking an elaborate meal for herself. A sandwich and some reheated soup would do her just nicely. From the window, she could see Klaus and Aurora walk into the courtyard, and she felt a pang of jealousy wash over her. Aurora was all over him as she took in the yard that was still in ruins after Klaus and Elijah's fight. Bella didn't like the way that Klaus moved around Aurora - as if he was smitten and Aurora was a delicate flower. She had to hand it to him; he was a great actor, but so was Bella.

She was going to have to have her dinner later, right now she needed to greet her client upon his return home. Grabbing a bottle of bourbon, she took a few sips to have alcohol on her breath and watched as Klaus took Aurora upstairs. Going the other way round, she was just in time to see Klaus kiss the redheaded vampire and Bella nearly gagged. "Oh! My apologies!" Bella said as she averted her eyes. "I didn't mean to interrupt…"

"More food!" Aurora squealed as she used her vamp speed to get close to Bella.

"No," Klaus went after her and stopped her only a second before she'd sink her teeth into her. "This is Isa. I compelled her to come and greet me whenever I come home," he said as he ran his hand through Bella's hair. "She's quite lovely, isn't she?"

"Tasty," Aurora said as she licked her lips. "Oh, Nik, can't I just have one sip?"

"While I've paid for her services, her boss won't be too pleased if I return her with less blood in her body than she left with," Klaus lifted Bella's chin and looked her in the eyes. Oh, she looked so hot, she smelled so good, and she was playing her part so well. He wanted to snap Aurora's neck and have sex with Bella instead. "I won't be needing your services tonight, love, go to your room. Close your doors and watch some Netflix until you get sleepy and go to bed, understood?"

A mischievous twinkle appeared in her eye as her stomach growled. "Of course, Klaus."

"Have some food before that. I do not wish for you to starve. Your boss will have my hide if you die of starvation."

"Thank you," she smiled at him, and as he released her, she turned around and walked away, swaying her hips and trying not to laugh out loud. Pretending to be compelled was so much fun. It was a good thing that he asked her to close the door, at least she wouldn't have to listen to him and Aurora… Bella shuddered at the thought and realized it was hypocritical of her to think this way.

~o.O.o~

"You didn't have to drop everything for this appointment with me, Elijah," Myriam said as she popped a french fry in her mouth. "I know you have more important things on your plate right now."

He hated the smell of the place. It was artificial; it smelled like oil and grease, the worst quality of food and sweat. So many sweaty tourists surrounding them that it was distracting. Myriam didn't seem to mind; she was happily eating her fries and her burger while he hadn't touched his food. For safety, he had chosen what she had picked out for herself as he thought it would be nice, but if he had to be honest, he felt like a fish out of water. "We set a date, impending doom or not, you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, and I see no reason for us to stop seeing each other."

"Is that so?" Myriam took her styrofoam cup filled with cola and drank from her straw as she eyed him. "What if your enemies think that there's more between us and would like to use me as an advantage?"

"I know that we don't know each other very well yet, but I hadn't imagined you being a typical damsel in distress."

"I'm not," she replied as she popped another fry in her mouth before pointing to his food. "You haven't touched anything, aren't you hungry?"

As if his nails were being pulled out from this fingers, he unwrapped his burger and took a bite out of it. It was as if he was eating cardboard. The meat was processed to the bone, and he wouldn't even be surprised if there was, in fact, discarded bone in there. "How can you eat this?" Elijah asked after he painfully swallowed the bite and had to resort to taking a sip of his beverage to be able to talk.

"Easy, it's food," Myriam said amused. She was so tempted to take her phone and snap a picture of Elijah and the hamburger to send it off to Klaus; he'd be laughing his ass off. "So, I know you Mikaelsons like to implode when shit hits the fan, keep everything between yourselves, but if you need help, don't hesitate to ask me, huh? Like you and your brother, I have access to a lot of resources."

"I'm sure that we'll be fine, Myriam, thank you," he said pleasantly. "I even suggested to Niklaus that he'd bring Bella back to you for the time being, but he refused."

"Of course, he did. Not that she'd leave, either," she said as she took another sip of her drink. "She feels a little left out, but knows that it's for the best."

"I don't trust her, still."

"Elijah," Myriam sighed disappointed. "Is this because there was a Cold One in the dungeons for a couple of days?"

"No," he said, not surprised that Bella had informed Myriam about it. "It's the little things. How she seemingly dropped everything concerning her so that Niklaus can focus on our matters. She's a far removed relative from people we've encountered before, and they weren't trustworthy to say the least, always playing their own game alongside ours. I'm merely trying to figure out what her play is."

"Her play?" she was surprised at that. "My dear Elijah, her play is that she loves your brother. She's not one to draw attention to herself, to her problems. Should the both of them have decided that your problems are more pressing, then you should respect that. She told me about everything."

"She did?"

"Of course, the girl needs someone to talk to. You're all at risk here, she's concerned, allow her to help."

Elijah sighed and slowly nodded. "It's just that she doesn't trust my sister, Freya, which is strange seeing as she helped you and Niklaus with your club, hasn't she?"

Myriam shrugged. "Speaking of the club, you're still not getting in. Especially now that you've got a target on your back. I do not want my girls in trouble."

He smiled at that. "When this is all over…"

"You still may not enter my club," she said stubbornly. "Not until I've made sure you're trustworthy enough and that you're not using me to get what you want."

"And what do I want?"

"I haven't figured that out yet. It could be to have something to hold over your brother's head or to make sure that there's a rift between your brother and me…"

"Or perhaps there's a genuine interest and admiration for your work," Elijah replied with a slow nod. "However, I do not wish to enter your club at this point, because of the issues we're dealing with right now."

"Am I falling in the category of the friend who could take you down?"

"Do you think I consider you my friend?"

"Perhaps not, but I'm a friend of Klaus."

"Let's not go down that path. At this time, I do not believe you to be the cause of the downfall of one of us," Elijah replied, trying to eat a fry but abandoned it. "Can we please go somewhere else to eat, next time?"

"Aww," Myriam said as she smiled at him. "That took you long enough." She gently pat his hand and reached for his fries. "Of course, Elijah. You pick the venue; I'll be there. Just not something as uncomfortably fancy as the last time. Or, you'll have to pay me for my services."

Elijah was quiet for a moment. "This was a test, wasn't it?"

"Of course it was."

"Did I pass?"

"I'm not saying anything," she said playfully. "But perhaps it would be wise to pay for a hotel room next time."

Shocked, he blinked at her. "Really? Do you think I'm that easy to persuade to have a sexual encounter with you?"

"One, it's cute that you call it that, but it's just sex. Two; you may be a vampire with a rod shoved up your ass, but you're still a man, and you like sex. Three; if you don't, by the time our next encounter ends, you're going to wish that you had," she got to her feet and shook his hand. "Until next time, Mr. Mikaelson," she winked at him. "I have to run; I have some business to attend to."

Elijah watched Myriam leave the establishment before making a run for it himself, smelling like grease, he went straight to the compound to take a shower and burn his clothes, but he was pleased that things were progressing so well between him and Myriam, and he was going to follow her instructions. If she was open to more, then so was he.

~o.O.o~

It had been days. Days since she had had a decent conversation with Klaus. Days since she had seen more than five minutes of him and she had no idea what was going on. She had caught a few snippets here and there, that Aurora had Rebekah in her possession and Lucien now had some sort of thing that could lock people up or whatever, and Bella was bored.

With Aurora around, it wasn't as if she could walk around the compound like she usually would or invite Myriam over because that would be dangerous. The first time she mentioned to Klaus that she was bored was when she passed the study where Elijah and Klaus had been discussing his 'affections' for Aurora. Elijah questioned whether or not his brother would use the same tactics on Tristan and Lucien and Klaus said they weren't his type. She offered to help, but both vampires said no.

That was when she sent her first email to Myriam.

The last one was the day before Thanksgiving, and that was when Myriam came over. "Niklaus!" her voice bellowed through the courtyard. "If you're not using my whore, I'd like to have her back please!"

Bella giggled as she made her way to the walkway and leaned over the barrier to look at Myriam. Klaus appeared next to her, only a few doors down and looked at her before looking at Myriam.

"I'm paying for her services, love, whether I use her or not," he then looked at Bella before making his way over to her. "How dare you."

"How dare I? I've been telling you that I'm bored. For days! You won't allow me to leave the compound, or my room on most days, and I'd rather work for my money than to sit in my room, unused and look beautiful. Or knit. I've finished all the books I've brought with me; I'm pretty sure I watched everything on Netflix!"

"Isa, behave yourself," Myriam scolded her as she used her speed to get to Bella and Klaus. She crossed her arms over her chest as she moved in front of Bella and looked at Klaus. "My girls like to entertain. They like to make sure that their client has everything he needs," she said as she looked over his shoulder to see Aurora step onto the walkway as well. "And it seems that you have no use of my girl."

"As I said, I'm paying for her services, what I do or don't do with her is my problem."

"Then give her some freedom. Isa has been nothing but loyal to you, and only you. If you're not going to entertain her, then at least allow her to go out and buy some toys to entertain herself. Allow her to buy new books. Don't keep her here."

"I don't want her to see other men!"

"Why is that, Nik?" Aurora asked playfully, finally made her way over to them and ran her hand over his arm. "This madam is right, if you're not using the goods… why waste her?"

"I think he has some abandonment issues," Myriam replied with a smile. "He's had Isa for so long now; perhaps it's hard to let go of her. Fine. You're paying double from now on, and you're going to allow her to go outside today and whenever she feels like it. You know she's loyal. You made her that way."

Sighing, Klaus nodded as he pushed past Myriam and narrowed his eyes on Bella, who, obstructed from Aurora's view, smirked at him. "Have some fun outside these walls, love, but do return to me."

"Thank you, Klaus," she tiptoed and brushed his lips with hers before going into her bedroom to change into something a little more decent.

"Was that so hard?" Myriam asked as she looked at Klaus. "I expect payment in the Swan bank account soon," she said as she stared him down. "Don't make me come here again to tell you to loosen her reigns. A happy whore is a good whore."

"My apologies."

"Also, do not forget to feed her tomorrow at Thanksgiving. Not the shit you feed your servants, but the food you're going to eat. Or I will take her away from you."

"Fine," Klaus muttered before paying his attention back to Aurora. "Where were we?"

Aurora giggled and pulled Klaus back into his bedroom. Bella, now more conservatively dressed, exited with her bag and hugged Myriam. "Thank you."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Nah, I think I'm going to the cemetery to catch some sunshine in a safe place. I need a change of scenery," she replied as she walked with Myriam down the stairs and towards the exit of the courtyard. "I want my brain challenged and engaged."

"I really should get you a mobile phone so you can just call me instead of sending me an email."

"Why? It worked, didn't it?" Bella laughed and hugged Myriam again once they were on the streets. "I'll see you later." She hoisted her bag over her shoulder, her bag being slightly heavy due to its contents. While she had told Klaus that she'd let her side of the problems rest, she simply couldn't. And now that she was completely out of the loop with his side, she figured it was time to do some digging of her own.

She was going to see if she could befriend Davina Claire. Yes, she knew that she didn't like the Mikaelsons and Klaus didn't like her in return, but Klaus' second in command Marcel did. Marcel was a good little soldier and had told Bella about Davina's relationship with the dead brother Kol. And if someone like him could stomach a girl like Davina… then it was worth a shot.

Before she went to the cemetery, she bought a few beers and some pastries. Maybe, just maybe, she was going to get lucky the first time of trying to meet with the girl.


	22. Let The Games Begin

Oh, she wasn't sure how to do this. She'd never been at LaFayette before, and she wasn't even sure if Davina was around. Sighing, she got the book out of her bag and hugged it as she walked around the tombs, reading the names and inscriptions. Some were so old that it had their life's story told on the stones. It was interesting. Intriguing, even. Maybe, when all of this would be over, she'd turn to her love for history again.

Read. Explore. Think of crazy theories and prove herself wrong or right. Ever since she'd started to run, she hadn't stopped and taken the time to enjoy herself, to allow herself to bite into a chunk of history and not letting it go until she was done with it. She should have done that the moment she set foot in New Orleans, but her mind had been otherwise occupied.

Bella walked around for quite some time before a young woman, a brunette, came stomping out of a tomb, agitation set on her face. "Hey, you!" she snapped before stopping dead in her tracks. "Is that my book?"

"Depends on who you ask and who you are," Bella replied, holding the book close to her. "I mean, you might say it's yours, but I have someone else saying it's theirs so…"

"Ah, you're the innocent that Freya stole that book for," Davina replied as she stretched out her hand. "I'm Davina, and your magic is interfering with my spell, so…"

"I'm Bella. I thought I'd return your book and have a beer with you for thanking you for so generously giving the book to Freya Mikaelson so we could do some research."

"I didn't freely give anything. The bitch stole it from me after I said no. Knocked me out with a spell," Davina said bitterly as she held out her hands for Bella to give it back. "Did it help you, at least?"

"Yeah… I wanted to ask you if I could hold on to it for a bit longer. I think there's a lot that I'm missing when it comes to understanding what exactly is wrong with me," she said with a slight chuckle. "The last few pages in the book are in a language I don't understand so I want to make sure that I've got everything translated correctly." She hoped that Davina hadn't read the book and knew that she was lying. Especially the last bits of the book were in English. And some code she wasn't able to decipher and that intrigued her.

She eyed her skeptically. "You know, I could do a magical x-ray of you, maybe that will help. Are you sure you're a witch?"

"Oh, I'm not a witch. I hate witches - sorry, bad experiences."

"That's okay," Davina laughed. "Come, let's find out what you are then, and maybe show you that not all witches are evil or wrong or out to get you," she motioned for Bella to follow her into her building. "So, how do you know the Mikaelsons?"

"I'm an entertainer," Bella said with a shrug as she stuffed the book back into her bag as she followed Davina.

"Oh? What do you do?"

"I dance, and I am an exclusive adult escort."

Davina stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Bella, pity written all over her face. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Did um… did they compel you to do that?"

"Hell no," Bella smiled at her. "Don't worry, I have a reasonable steady background, and I know what I'm doing. I love what I do. Don't pity me."

"Were you drawn to New Orleans?"

"Yeah, I guess I was, in a way." She followed Davina deeper into the building, only to realize that this was also a tomb. A big one, at that. "Wow. Uhm… should we even be in here? It sort of feels like trespassing."

"Did Freya tell you about me?"

"Only that you were a witch but other than that? I'm not familiar with everything supernatural. I'm quite the novice, really. I mean… real vampires? Werewolves? Witches? Magic is real?" Bella couldn't help but look around and notice the names on the stones. "What is this place?"

"This is a seat of power," Davina explained. "It's where all the previous Regents of the covens are interred and thus the home of the current regent of the nine covens. Me," she said proudly. "I'm the most powerful witch in New Orleans."

Bella let out a breath. Klaus' observation about Davina being power-hungry and quite arrogant was spot on. "I… oh… I didn't know that, I'm sorry. Should I bow or curtsey or something?"

"Relax," Davina laughed. "You said it yourself; you're no witch. So, the book, it was about the Travelers, wasn't it? Aren't they like… extinct?"

"I don't know," Bella said with a shrug. "According to the book they do like their mass suicides."

"Why the interest?"

"Uh… well, it appears that I'm related to them, and certain clients hate it that they can't compel me, so there must be something wrong with me, right?" Bella said with a slight chuckle. "I also have some issues with a sub-species of vampires, and I am trying to understand why."

Davina slowly nodded as she lit some candles. "Let me try to do that witchy scan on you, but I'm afraid that the knowledge you seek is not in my possession or in my knowledge. I do know of one witch who might know but… he's dead."

"Freya's brother, right? Kol?"

"Yeah," Davina smiled as she pointed at the floor for Bella to sit down. "He was this amazing person. Kind, warm, slightly crazy and his knowledge of magic was just out there. But then again, he had so many years to gather his knowledge… I might travel one day and do the same, you know, to learn more. Teach it to the covens upon my return."

"That sounds like a great idea! You should do that. The world is this big, crazy place and it's awesome," Bella sat down and pulled two bottles of beer out of her bag. "Want one?"

"Would you like it if a surgeon with alcohol breath would perform surgery on you?" She replied laughing. "But go ahead if you want to calm your nerves. I promise I won't hurt you and that I'm pure with my intentions. Everyone should know where they come from and what they are."

Bella shrugged as she screwed the top off and took a swig of her beer. "Hey, aren't you a little young to be Queen Witch?"

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," she laughed again as she started to place the burning candles around Bella. "You're safe."

"Yeah, and what if I'm not?" she said slightly hesitant. "I don't want you to scramble my brains or anything; I need it to do my job."

Davina sat down on her knees behind Bella and placed her hands on her shoulders. "You came to me for help, let me help you. It's what I do."

Bella took another swig of her beer before setting the bottle outside the circle where her bag was and sighed deep. "Alright, I'm relaxing."

Davina started to chant a spell as she moved her hands around Bella's body before, just like Freya, she received a jolt and was propelled backward. "Oh no, no no no!" she said as she scrambled to her feet and looked at Bella in shock. "What was that!"

"Oh, that? Yeah, that happened to Freya too."

"And you couldn't tell me?!"

She shrugged. "I thought it would be different with you, since, you know, you're not Freya," she said as she got to her feet and took her bag. "We should hang out together. No magic involved. Go shopping. Have a manicure. Spa day. Really."

"Why? You just tried to kill me!"

"No, I didn't," Bella sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "But I could use a friend, a non-adult entertainer kinda friend. And I like your energy. We should hang out. So, the day after tomorrow? Spa day? You and me? I'll pay."

"Fine," Davina said, resigning with a sigh. "I suppose I could use a normal, human, friend to hang out with."

"Cool," Bella smiled. "Thanks! I'll come and find you."

"Hey, um, do you want me to ask the ancestors about you? See what they know?"

Shrugging, Bella readjusted her bag. "If you want to, any help is appreciated."

"Can I have some of your blood?"

She shook her head. "Sorry. If there's one thing I won't part with for magic or food, it's bodily fluids and hair," Bella then tugged on her hair. "Ohh, speaking of hair… I'm going to the hairdresser to make my hair awesome again. It's a little bit dull, isn't it? It could use some more color… Thanks for your help, Davina. I'll see you in a couple of days," she smiled before bouncing out of the tomb and headed into town.

~o.O.o~

Bella felt as if she was having a heart attack when she got rudely awoken the next morning by a fuming Klaus. "What have you done with your hair!" He demanded angrily as he sat next to her on the bed. "Your lovely hair!"

She groaned as she rolled onto her back and looked at him. "Don't be such a drama queen, Klaus."

"You cut it!"

"My hair. And it's not super short, you know. It still reaches my shoulders," she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sighed. "And I had it dye-dipped. Awesome, isn't it?"

"Your hair!"

"You never complained before. I needed a change," she sat up and looked around. "Wait, you're here, does that mean Aurora's gone?"

"She had some business to attend to, and she wanted to go dress shopping for the ultimate dress to wear for our dinner tonight," he softly kissed her lips. "Every moment spent with her is agony. You need to save me."

"No," she smiled as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. "You made your bed; you're going to lie in it. In your misery," she kissed him again and pressed her naked body against him. "Please tell me we can have sex."

"I don't know, love, Aurora wore me out, I thought I'd take the time to take a nap."

"Asshole," she said as she pushed him away. "I know I went along with this, and it seems to be the right course of action, but I don't like it!"

Klaus started to laugh as he pulled her back towards him. "I was joking, Bella."

"Yeah well, you've spoiled the mood now," she said grumpily and got off the bed in search of some clothes. "So, what have I missed, tell me all about it."

"You're not fair," Klaus sighed as he flopped onto his stomach and watched her move around the bedroom. "You agreed to this."

"I did, but joking about it isn't something I'd like to hear, so spill."

Sighing again, he told her everything that he and Elijah had learned over the last few days. "And thus, Elijah thought it'd be fun to throw a Thanksgiving dinner party to show them that we're on to them. It's possible a few threats will be tossed around; I sincerely hope to spill some blood…"

"I'll make sure to stay out of your way."

"Nonsense," Klaus replied, noticing that she wasn't making an effort when it came to getting dressed. Either she was torturing him, or she was changing her mind, playing a little mindfuck of her own. "I told Lucien that to keep you safe; we pretend that you're an ordinary human who's able to be compelled. He knows that you can't, but he agreed. You're simply too valuable - to him - to end up as cannon fodder. Aside from Elijah and myself, I trust that he will protect you when needed."

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll be joining us for dinner," Klaus smiled at her. "As an unofficial referee and to have some good food, just as Myriam told me to do for you."

"But…"

"Aurora was there when she made the threat; we don't have a choice, love."

"Of course, we do," Bella said nervously as she looked at him. "I'll just have the food in the kitchen. Far far away from five highly strung vampires who could snap at any minute and despite everything kill me. Granted, I'd just come back but I'm meeting a potential friend tomorrow, so I'd rather not be dead."

He was surprised to hear that. "What happened to your deathwish?" Not that he didn't like this change of heart. She deserved to be human for a bit longer, live without fear. Although that might take some more time… "And what potential friend?"

"Davina."

"Are you mad!" Klaus said as he sped off the bed and almost pushed Bella against the wall. "She's been nothing more than trouble for this family! The decisions she makes are borderline psychotic; she barely ever listens to advice, and she thinks she's some sort of special snowflake because she used to be a Harvest witch!"

"Ask Elijah and he'd say the same things about you," she countered and looked up to him. "Look, you're busy with your prophecy, and I'm bored, so I took it upon myself to look for help. She's useless in this department, so I decided we should be friends, or at least try to be. She appeared to be lonely, and I thought that was sad."

"The only reason the witch is still alive is that I promised Camille not to hurt her. You can't trust her!"

"And I won't," she smiled at him, gently patting his face with the palm of her hand. "I won't tell her anything, besides, she stumbled upon the same magical roadblock as Freya so…" Bella shrugged. "But you know, it's good for me to socialize. Make friends that aren't vampires or other adult entertainers."

"She won't be your friend."

"Well, then I won't be hers either, but I wanted to do something, Klaus. And she hung around with Kol last year so maybe she knows more than she lets on. Are you catching my drift here?"

"She's dangerous, love, I don't want her to hurt you."

"You expect me to attend to a summit that'll be attended by five of the oldest vampires on Earth, and you're afraid of a little witch hurting me?" She pressed her body against his and slinked her arms around his neck. "Cute," she said as she tiptoed and kissed him sweetly.

Amused, he smiled at her. "Do you have any idea what I'd do to anyone who would dare to talk to me like you've been doing for the last two years?"

"Yup," she smirked.

Letting out a breath, he pulled her closer. "I want to bend you over the desk in the study and punish you mercilessly," he said huskily.

She looked into his eyes as she admired him. "One condition," she said after a moment of thought. "Since you've been sexing a thousand-year-old vampire for the last few days, I'm going to need you to suit up."

"Bella…"

"I know you're both vampires and can't get sick from disease, but that doesn't mean you can't carry it and spread it around. I'm still human, Klaus. I don't want to get sick from her cooties."

"You're out of luck, I don't have those," he scowled as he ran a finger along her spine causing her to shiver.

"Doesn't that mean that you're out of luck, love?" She said playfully. She was dancing too close to the fire right now. There was nothing more that she wanted than to fly apart against him after the last few days, having to tolerate Aurora in his arms instead of her, and she knew that he wanted her badly. This could all blow up in her face. When she saw the disappointed look on his face, she smiled widely. "Lucky for you, your sister Freya likes to have casual sex now and then and she was willing to part with a suit for you."

Slightly annoyed by her, Klaus' upper lip curled up before he kissed her possessively, his hand on the back of her head, keeping it in place as his tongue invaded her mouth, ravishing her, drinking in her scent. After breaking off the kiss, he leveled his gaze. "Get it and then present yourself in the study."

Bella just laughed at him as she cupped his groin and gave it a gentle squeeze. Oh, he was interested alright.

"Bella!"

"Nuh-uh," she said as she took a step away from him and released him from her hold. "You're in no position to make demands, Klaus Mikaelson. For one, you're still fully dressed, and you know as well as I do that I don't take orders from fully dressed men."

"Are you taking the piss?" He watched her as she walked away from him, light on her feet as she ran a hand through her freshly cut hair and made a pirouette.

"No, but now you mention it, I could take A piss, seeing as you woke me and all…" she said thoughtful and headed to the bathroom. "I'll be right back!"

He scratched his head as he thought of what to do; he knew that she was just playing and that she was definitely interested - he could smell her arousal, but this was annoying. Klaus would have thought that she'd be more open, more receptive after these days.

And he wasn't sure why she was punishing him. She had agreed to him trying to play Aurora! When she seemed to take her time, he sighed and got rid of his clothes and searched the nightstand for the condom that she wanted him to use. Again, he understood why, but him sleeping with Myriam and with her had never been a big issue with her. It was likely because she knew that Myriam was clean. He wasn't even sure Aurora was, but seeing she'd been in a monastery for so long…

"Looking for this?" Bella smiled widely as she held up the wretched object and casually leaned against the doorpost. Playing games were so much fun, but she knew that she had to give in to him eventually if she wanted everyone to live. Not that Klaus would deliberately try to hurt her, but he was a vampire, after all, and she had only just made the realization that she wanted to be human for a while longer - destiny or not.

Not because she liked being a human, but more that she could get away with shit like this because she was a human and Klaus wanted her. Getting her neck snapped for merely toying with him would be horrible.

She took him in with her eyes and licked her lips. "Don't you look…" She wasn't even able to complete her sentence because he rushed over to her and threw her on the bed, knocking the air out of her lungs as he snatched the condom from her. She started to laugh to steady her breathing, but it quickly dissolved into a moan as he plunged into her.

 **A/N: I'm sorry I'm letting you guys wait so long for an update. I know I used to upload once, twice, a week, but in the past month and a half I've been working on a story for charity. It's a Kol/Bella friendship (with the sequel already planned and it involves a relationship) story and I finished it. It's for fandom for mental health. ffmh dot wordpress dot com. You can donate as little as 10 USD to one of the four charities the website supports (until May 19th) and you'll get a compilation of 58 awesome writers with their stories when you send in the receipt. Meekobb and TheDarkestFallingStar have donated a great story as well. The story will surface onto the web at some point, but we're not allowed to post it anywhere until at least September!**

 **Now that's over, I can get back to working on this story and update more often :-)**

 **xx Buggy**


	23. Girls Just wanna have fun

She was still a little wobbly on her feet after she and Klaus spent most of the day together, in bed or on the floor or against the wall, in the tub… Still high on sex, but smelling like roses, Bella now stood in front of the mirror wearing the dress that she knew that would guarantee Klaus to go batty. Again. It would also catch the eye of Lucien, and she wasn't sure about Tristan, he sounded just as asexual and stuck up as Elijah.

She was wearing a gorgeous lace column cocktail dress with a jewel neckline and a little bit of sleeve. The illusion was that it was see-through and nude underneath, but in fact, there was fabric in the color of her skin that was attached to the dress to create it. It was one of her favorite dresses, still. She couldn't remember if she'd ever worn it for Klaus. Probably not.

When she heard Klaus speak downstairs, she moved to the balustrade and leaned over it to see what was going on. She kept herself from laughing when she noticed how 'dressing up' for the vampires meant to wear 'a different suit' and in Klaus' case, he'd put a velvet dinner jacket over his casual henley and jeans. Aurora was dressed in a velvet dress. A purple one at that. Since when was velvet back in fashion? It was gross. Those puffy shoulders were clearly out of the previous century!

Lucien looked like a horny teenager when Aurora greeted him. Of course. Why was Bella even surprised about this? What was it with men and falling for complete nutcases like Aurora? Was it her tits? Or was it merely for sentimental reasons, that it was easier, since they were all so ancient? Oh, but she could work with the look of horror that appeared on both Tristan and Lucien's face when Klaus grabbed Aurora's attention.

Then, of course, almost as if it was rehearsed, Elijah descended the stairs and rolled into his dramatic speech. "Welcome to our home! I do wish it was under better circumstances. We all face a common threat- a prophecy warning that my siblings and I would all fall within a year." Cue the dramatic pause. Bella silently snickered. Elijah deserved an Oscar for his performance abilities. "I fear my sister already has." There it was. She fought hard against the urge to whoop and applaud Elijah for his performance, she did.

There was some petty squabbling and a patronizing Elijah belittling Lucien, before Elijah invited the trinity to sit down at the table. Klaus was just about to speak up when Aurora's annoying voice sounded. "Nik, aren't you forgetting something?"

"What's that, love?" He replied pleasantly as he walked towards her.

Aurora sighed dramatically. "You got into a fight with her madam about this. You should get her down for this lovely feast. After all, we do need to keep the whore happy, don't we? Since you're obviously refusing to allow her to return to the rotten place you found her in."

Bella was surprised by that. Maybe Aurora said it to test him, or her, or maybe it was simply out of kindness. Shrugging, Bella headed towards the stairs and waited. She had to pretend to be compelled. Fucker. Fuck her. Fuck him. Fuck everyone.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I've asked her to join us this evening as a referee," Klaus said as he pointed to the top of the stairs and motioned for Bella to head down. She looked ravishing. Absolutely gorgeous. Even Lucien did a double take. Klaus could hear him swallow, hard. Tristan was surprised, but even he was interested. "Isa, darling, please join us. You remember Lucien, don't you?"

"I do," she smiled brightly at him, caressing his cheek with her hand as she passed him to round the table to sit down next to Lucien. "Hello, Lucien. It's so good to see you again."

"You've been here all along?"

"I have," she smiled at him. "Klaus is treating me well."

Aurora scoffed. "Hardly. She's been compelled to say that."

"Compelled? Really?" Lucien cocked his head as he looked at Klaus before back at Isa. He knew that she couldn't be compelled. What kind of game was his sire playing? Not going to ruin his game - as there must have been a reason for this charade, he leaned into her. "You still owe me a shag, beautiful. So repeat after me; 'I want you to take me home, Lucien.'"

Bella's smile faltered as she narrowed her eyes at him before reaching for her fork and stabbed him between his legs. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Lucien!" Bella said panicked. "That wasn't me, I swear!"

"I told you, she's compelled. There's no original thought left in her body," Aurora said bored. "Obviously, Nik wants to keep her all to himself and compelled her to use brutal force against anyone who'd make her want to change her mind."

Lucien snarled as he pulled the fork out of his skin and wrapped his hand tightly around Bella's throat. "I shall get rid of his toy, right now!"

"Put down the girl, Lucien," Elijah commanded, but Lucien wasn't listening.

Klaus was quick on his feet and broke Lucien's arm, so he let go of Bella. "Isa's human and she is not to be harmed. Have I made myself clear?" He spat at his first sireling. "I shall not hesitate to kill you should any one of you hurt a hair on her perfect little body." Releasing Lucien, he checked Bella over. He had not expected him to do this. "Are you alright?"

She nodded quickly as she reached for a glass of water to drink from it. This had been a bad idea. "I don't think I should be here, Klaus."

"Ah! An original thought!" Aurora squealed. "Well done, little girl."

"I promise I won't tell Myriam." She'd never been scared shitless in the presence of vampires. No, something really had changed within her. She wasn't sure if it was because of her supernatural status or that she didn't want to die just yet. But she wanted out. This had been a bad idea. What a waste of a pretty awesome dress. She'd wished she'd been able to show it some more.

"Isa, I am sorry," Lucien started, which earned him a backhanded slap from Klaus, who kept his eyes on her.

"Go fill up a plate then, sweetheart, and go to your room," he murmured. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she smiled at him and softly kissed him before doing as she was told. She didn't understand why she was feeling the way that she did. It wasn't the same sort of feeling that she had around Freya or Davina, but it was a more intense feeling of dread and pain. Of betrayal. Was it coming off of Lucien? She had hoped he was one of the good guys, but feeling like this? She wasn't so sure anymore. "I should be the one who's sorry."

Sighing, Klaus bit his hand and dripped some of his blood into an empty glass as Bella gathered some food on her plate. He handed her the glass as she stood to leave. "I'll check in on you later."

Elijah watched Bella leave and processed what he had just witnessed. She had met Lucien before and hadn't really had the idea to leave him, even after his witch had stopped her from leaving. In fact, as the way that his brother had told the story, she turned it around and played Lucien for quite some money. Bella didn't like Aurora, but that was because she was insane and as much as the girl denied it, she really didn't want to share Niklaus anymore. However, she didn't have the same reaction when Aurora was around.

Perhaps a little, but Elijah wasn't worried about that. No, he was worried that Tristan, his sireling, and leader of The Strix, was the problem. The threat. That Bella's internal alarm bells went off, and she wasn't able to pinpoint where it was coming from, but Tristan was the only one she hadn't encountered before. It made sense. He glanced over to his brother and came to the realization that he had the same idea.

Tristan was going to cause them one hell of a headache.

~o.O.o~

Some distance did her some good, but almost half an hour later, or an hour later, perhaps, she could hear fighting coming from everywhere in the compound. Talking, slapping, punching, growling. Bella had barricaded all entries to her bedroom, just in case. Not that it would help against a vampire, but it was the thought that counts.

After changing into something more comfortable, she found a note on her bed from Davina. _I don't know where you are, and I hope this comes to you and not someone else. Can you meet me at Gillespie's Pub? It's on St. Peter's, the corner of Bourbon Street. I could use a friend right now. D._

Blinking, Bella grabbed her purse with her money and was glad she hadn't changed into PJ's but a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and tossed the note into the fire. Using a piece of paper and a pen, she left a note for Klaus on her bed and snuck out. She didn't want to bother the vampires in case something happened, or in case she was interrupting their plans or whatever.

Yeah, it was dark, and yeah, she knew she shouldn't be out by herself, but Davina had actually reached out to her. It was a chance she had to take. She blinked when she passed Marcel on the street. He was walking by so fast that she didn't think that he'd seen her, which was probably for the best, before she ducked into Gillespie's. It was a karaoke bar. Perfect.

She found Davina at a corner of the bar, pushing around her food, looking miserable. "Hey," Bella greeted her as she slid onto the stool next to Davina's. "Is everything okay?"

"No," Davina sighed eventually, putting her fork down. "I'm still trying to process it myself, I mean, where to go from here? I had to do what I had to; otherwise they wouldn't respect me and it seems to work for everyone else, but why not me? It came round to bite me in the ass, and now I'm useless."

She blinked as she tried to make sense of Davina's words. "Slow down; you're not making any sense, Davina," she said as she rubbed the girl's back. "Why are you so upset?"

She took a deep breath and ordered Bella a beer and a soda for herself. She waited for hers to arrive and took a swig. "Were you working? Is that how you could come here so quickly?"

Bella snorted as she pointed at her outfit. "Do I look like I was working?"

"No," she blushed. "Sorry, it's none of my business, I shouldn't have asked…"

"And what if I was? You need me; you magically sent me this note. What kind of a person am I if I refuse to answer it?" Bella took a long swig of her beer and shook her head. "Way to change the direction of the conversation."

"Yeah well… I'm afraid that if I say it out loud that it'll be true."

"If something happened to you, then it probably is true. You weren't assaulted, were you?"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Davina gasped. "Oh, god no. I don't know what I'd do if that happened."

"As a woman, there are two ways to deal with that. One, if you feel threatened by a man, just stare at his junk every once in awhile. It'll make him feel self-conscious and leave you alone. Two; if it does happen, just break his dick. Uhm. Manhood." Bella took another swig. "Besides, you've got magic; you don't need strength."

"True," she snorted. "But I'm not as powerful as I used to be. They shunned me. I'm no longer a regent, and I don't belong to any coven anymore. I feel so powerless. And I was well in my rights, you know. Other people kill to make a statement and get away with it, like Klaus Mikaelson, and when I ask a wolf to take care of something, it blows up in my face. Granted, the bitch lost control and killed a lot of witches instead of just the one but…"

"I'm sorry, Davina," Bella said as she rubbed her back. "Why did they shun you, though? You must have had a good reason to want to get rid of someone?"

"You're not even shocked that I'm a murderer?"

"You're not. Perhaps by proxy… I dunno. I've seen worse shit."

"And the reason was that she threatened me. And my position as regent. I know that I'm like the youngest regent ever, but she humiliated me in front of everyone," she sighed and took a sip of her soda. "And now I've lost everything."

"Did you?"

"Yes!" Davina whined. "And it's not like I could use my position for anything that I wanted, either. I mean, when I became regent, the ancestors granted me all their power for one spell. And I choose the spell to bring back my boyfriend, but, the Mikaelsons hijacked the spell by swapping out his ashes with that of his mother. So all that magic, gone. Because they ended up killing her too. I stopped doing favors for vampires, like creating rings for them, and I fought every coven to remain where I was. It was all I had, Bella. Magic. The power."

She now understood why Klaus wanted to get rid of Davina; she was an obvious threat, but now with her power stripped away from her, maybe he could ease up a little on her. "You're still alive; that must count for something. You're obviously still able to do magic even without the help of your ancestors. You're more than just a witch, Davina. You're a person first, and you're still here."

"Yeah, you're right," Davina smiled at her and nodded. "Thanks, I needed that. Want to do some karaoke?"

"Sure, why not? I'll even switch to drinking soda as to be your equal. Sucks that you're not 21 yet," Bella pouted. "Unless we go somewhere else, like privately and have fun."

"No. Karaoke."

"Karaoke it is," Bella laughed.

Coming home hours after the ending of the dinner party, she found the courtyard yet again, in ruins. Sighing, she shook her head and headed up the stairs where she was greeted by Elijah. "Good morning," she muttered, wished she had a good reason to be in this late.

"Good Morning, how are you feeling?" He asked pleasantly as he followed her. "Better?"

"Tired," she replied. "I'm going to bed."

He gently put his hand on her arm and made her turn to look at him. "Niklaus is out, searching for Camille. It seems that someone has taken her out of Lucien's custody, and we're worried that something has happened to her," Elijah said gently. "I do not expect him back until he has found her."

"Okay," Bella said with a yawn. "Wait, Lucien had Cami?"

"It's a long story that really doesn't matter right now," he smiled politely. "I just need to inform you about a couple of things, in Niklaus' absence. We're holding Tristan, and we're going to try to get the information we need about our sister's whereabouts from him. It might get loud."

"Alright."

"Also; since we're holding Tristan, it's entirely possible that his minions, the Strix, will make an attempt to get him released. It's likely it'll be done by force. Know that you're protected inside the walls of this building. You are invisible to anyone who's not a Mikaelson for the next 24 hours. Should you feel that you're not safe in your room, please hide out in the dungeons." He then smiled at her. "But please, please refrain from running away."

"Okay," she smiled at him. "I trust you. Thank you, Elijah."

"Do try to get some rest; it's going to be a long day."

She stopped him from walking away by placing her hand on his arm. "Elijah, are you okay?"

"Of course," he smiled reassuringly, but without the actual feeling behind it. "Niklaus believes that we have the prophecy under control, but I'm not so sure about that. On top of that, Camille has been taken and…" Elijah let out a deep breath. "It's nothing you should worry yourself with. What matters is that you're safe and will be safe. May I ask… where were you this evening?"

"Davina needed me. We talked and then had a karaoke session, so it was awesome," she said with a yawn. "Whatever you have planned, or whatever you expect to happen, please be careful."

"Of course. Have a good night, Bella."

"Good night, Elijah."

~o.O.o~

Bella woke up to screaming, yelling and the smashing of things and fought her own fear of getting hurt. Elijah had told her, nobody but the Mikaelsons could see her, but even then, it was hard to wake up with. Quickly changing into her clothes, she quietly ventured out to see what was going on, only to be nearly grazed by seemingly a member of the Strix. It had been a close call. Had she honestly slept all day then? Had she been that exhausted or was that part of another spell of Freya's, just to keep her out of harm's way and not bored?

She did as she was told then, going to the dungeons and wait it all out. She wished she could do something, but if they thought the threat had been severe enough to make her invisible, then she should stay out of it. It wasn't until Klaus came to find her that she knew that she was safe.

"You're back!" She said as she flew into his arms and held him tightly. "Are you okay? Is Cami okay? What happened?"

He breathed in her scent and relaxed; he had been on edge all day because of what happened with Aurora and Camille, and then learning that the Strix had invaded his home. All he wanted now was to sleep. He had left Camille to sleep on the sofa in the courtyard, well protected, and even offered her a room of her own, but she refused.

Camille was going to linger for a few days until she'd get back on her feet, until she was certain that no vampire would come after her again. She'd gone through quite the ordeal, and strangely enough, it made him wonder how Bella would have reacted if she'd been in the same situation as his therapist had been in.

"We're going to be able to spend the next couple of days in relative peace as we're going to prepare for the Christmas celebrations," he said instead and kissed the top of her head. "Right now, however, I want us to get into our bed and take a breather."

"What about Aurora?"

"That part is over and done with, love, no more pretending, no more praising her. From now on, we're treating her as the person she is; a psychotic lunatic."

"So it's just us?" She looked up at him, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Really? Can we finally continue being us?"

"For now, yes," he smiled at her before lifting her in his arms and took her upstairs. "I will tell you everything in the morning."

"Last question…" she said as she looked at him as he carried her to their room. "Are Elijah and Freya alright? There was so much commotion and…"

"Of course they are. There's nothing that a little bit of blood can't fix. Now, please, love, can we change the subject?"

A mischievous look appeared on Bella's face. "Or we could not talk at all."


	24. Broken Reins

He wasn't sure if he had to be amused or irritated by the sailors that he had hired to bring his sister back to him. They were boasting, thinking about trying to get more money. Oh, and for heaven's sake, they opened Rebekah's prison. Now he really had to kill them.

Humans were so predictable. Greed and power were their Achilles heels, but mainly greed, because more money meant buying more power. Elijah believed that he had been quite generous when he hired these men to retrieve something as valuable as his sister, but of course, they thought differently.

Most of them scattered after he tore out the heart of the most vocal one, but he managed to kill some of them. His excitement for getting his sister back overruled his idea of being clean, and he opened the lid of her coffin, seeing her sleep ever so soundly with a spelled stake in her chest. Pulling it out, he watched as her veins receded and her skin started to pink up some. The smile on her face was worth it when she sat up in confusion. "Hello, sister."

"Please tell me I didn't miss Christmas!"

"You didn't," a woman's voice sounded from behind them. When Elijah turned around, he was surprised to find the entire A-Squad standing there, all geared up in their catsuits and utility belts filled with knives and a gun or two. Was that a whip on Autumn's hip? "But I fear you'll have to miss it anyway." Elijah knew it was the A-Squad as he'd seen their picture in the newspaper, some were also lingering when he first entered Débauche on his own, and he and Freya may have passed the others on their way up to the second floor that day.

"Our boss wants to keep Ms. Mikaelson safe and doesn't trust you to provide that safety," the blonde, Ashley, said, slightly bored. "So please, kindly push the stake back into your sister, and no harm will be done."

"Oh, you brought me food, Elijah?" Rebekah said as she held on to him to climb out of the shipping crate. "You shouldn't have!"

"Look, we really don't want to do this, seeing as you're our former boss' love interest and all, but we have a job to do, and that job is to protect what's our current boss' property."

Rebekah huffed as she narrowed her eyes on the redhead. "I am nobody's property but my own."

"Oh please, do not tell me that you've abandoned your comfortable lives to work for the She-Devil," Elijah said as he looked at the women to find the weakest link. He was torn between the red head, Ace, and the pint-sized woman who looked to be their technological support. Autumn, wasn't it? "Whatever she's been paying you, I'll pay double."

"Our allegiance can't be bought!" Aria fumed.

"Uhm, actually, it can," Alina was the most levelheaded of the group. Elijah remembered Bella taking a liking to her due to their similar interests. "That's how we got this gig. We were bored."

"I really do not wish to hurt you," Elijah said calmly. "But I will, if you keep insisting that Rebekah should be back on the bottom of that ocean."

Three of the girls huffed and then they all looked at each other. It was almost as if there was some telepathy going on, a huddle without actually moving from their spot. Well, she is a nutcase. I never agreed to do this anyway. I like Myriam too much to continue. There's no way we survive two Original vampires attacking us. It's just a job, get over it and let's do what we've been paid to do. Shut up. "Double, you say?" Aria eventually spoke up and locked eyes with Elijah.

"I'll make it triple if you see to it that my sister and I return safely. Then, if you wish, you can go back to working for Myriam or be the added security for the humans in our care," he negotiated before pulling his phone out of his coat pocket. "I can make the money transfer now, if you'd like, but I never break my word."

"Pass," Ashley shot at Elijah and drew her gun to point it at Rebekah. "Back into your box."

Without blinking, he moved to the girl and snapped her neck, allowing Rebekah to sink her teeth into Aria and drain her. "Yay, food," she said as she wiped her mouth and dropped the body to the floor. "Anyone else or are you going to take my brother up on his generous offer?"

"You do know that you didn't have to do that, right? It's not as if bullets can kill you," Autumn remarked as she looked at the two bodies as she chucked her gun to the floor. "Hardly anything can kill you."

"Try nothing," Alina said as she followed Autumn's lead.

"True, but just because we can't get killed, doesn't mean that bullets don't hurt like hell," Rebekah said with a slight pout, somewhat disappointed that the other three women were smarter than to go up against Originals.

"So we have your word, you won't kill us?" Ace said as she reluctantly put her weapons on the floor as well. "Why should we believe you?"

"My brother is a man of his word, darling, don't you fret," Rebekah purred as she went over to her and ran her fingers through her hair. "Aren't you just the loveliest specimen."

"While it frightens me that your allegiance can be bought so easily, my sister is right."

"Hey, if it were up to me, we wouldn't have left our cushy job but the muscle got antsy," Autumn said, throwing her hands up in the air in surrender. "Being the good little drones that we are, we had no choice but to follow."

"There is always a choice, now, let's go home, shall we?" Elijah said amused as he eyed his sister. "Rebekah, the redhead isn't food."

"But she's pretty."

"And so are you," Ace winked at the vampire. "And I'm great in bed, too!"

"Great, I'm going to keep you, then," she said lightly and looped her arm through Ace's. "What's your name?"

"Oh, Rebekah please."

"Shut up, Elijah, and let us go home, it's been far too long since I've seen Nik and I am so curious to his latest squeeze!"

~o.O.o~

It had been so nice to live in relative quiet for a few days. No kidnappings, no attacks, no pesky know-it-all Cold Ones who said they had information but in truth, didn't come up with much… And most importantly; no psychotic bitch making everyone's life miserable.

Klaus had moved back with her in their bedroom and when he wasn't tending to a shaken Camille; he was with her. Talking, digging through Elijah's books that basically said the same thing that Peter had told them; just in a very ancient dialect of Italian. Probably a Greek dialect at that. It was strange and creepy.

She was in awe of Elijah's library. Yes, Klaus had his own books, but Elijah's library was filled with hundreds if not thousands of books on every subject. Every war that had been fought. Every book that mentioned the Mikaelson name. Even personal journals of long deceased world leaders.

It was after that they had browsed through Elijah's books that they returned to the Traveler book belonging to the other Mikaelson brother, Kol, to the strange language at the end of the book. It wasn't a language that Bella recognized; even scanning it in on her iPad and running it through a translation program didn't work and Klaus could tell her why; it was written by Kol in his unique coded language. Something his brother had done for centuries, mainly to piss off the rest of his siblings when he wanted to keep a secret or something hidden.

The only person who could tell them what was on those pages was dead.

Or maybe there was someone else? When Klaus went to follow Camille when she got a phone call - Bella really couldn't believe that nobody saw the caring side of Klaus like she had, like Camille had, it was so obvious - she sent a message to Davina on her iPad to meet her at Gillespie's, if she was available, before grabbing her bag, stuffed her iPad with the scanned pages in that bag and headed out.

"Yeah, I've seen this before, in a handful of books," Davina said as she took a sip of her drink. "Never knew what it was."

"Klaus says it's something Kol did to piss the rest of the family off, to keep things a secret from them," Bella replied with a shrug. "I thought maybe Kol would have let you in on this."

Davina started to laugh and shook her head. "He was really guarded in some way. Very open in other ways, but always guarded. Very mischievous. I didn't trust him after finding out who he was, and we only started to truly trust each other when he was dying."

"I thought you were lovers?"

"We were in love, yes, but lovers? No," the witch replied with a small smile across her lips. "But believe me, I wish we had been. There was simply too much going on, you know, to really stop and smell the flowers. And then he died."

Bella smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. "I can now totally understand why you're so desperate on getting him back; you two have unfinished business!"

Davina blushed. "I made a promise to him. He had so much to live for, still. Especially as a witch and it's sad that his brother took that away from him," she said as she looked at the pictures of the book again. "I really wished I could help you, Bella. I have a feeling that this will help you so much more in finding out what you truly are, but I can't. And I don't know of any spell that could decode this."

"Eh, was worth a shot," Bella said with a shrug.

"I'm surprised they allowed you to take screenshots of it, though. The Mikaelsons, especially Klaus, aren't known for their trust in people."

Bella smirked. "What can I say? I'm a good little entertainer, and I know that I should probably have them return that book to you, but it's not your book to begin with, is it?"

"No, true, but Kol wouldn't mind me having it. Or the rest of his books."

Bella wasn't so sure of that. "I've been dealing with the Mikaelsons since I came to New Orleans, and if there's one thing that I've learned, it's that they're very possessive about their belongings. It's not as if we can ask Kol, right?"

"No, not yet," Davina said frustrated. "I'm working on it. So, what are you doing for Christmas?"

She blinked at the girl. "Uhm… I'm working. As a present to himself, Klaus has given my boss a generous amount of money for my company for as long as he pleases. I suppose I should go shopping for a present… any idea what to give a thousand-year-old hybrid?"

Davina scrunched up her nose. "A stake through the heart. White Oak. He'll make a beautiful fire."

"Davina."

"What?" She smiled at her. "Just because you entertain him, and you get paid for it doesn't mean that I have to like him, right?"

"True," Bella smirked as she finished her drink. "Anyway, I think I'd better start looking for presents. They're celebrating tonight; even their sister is coming home."

"Will Cami be there?"

"Yeah," Bella smiled. "She and Klaus are very close."

"Then why will you be there? Aren't you just going to be in the way of their blossoming relationship?"

Bella shrugged. "I get paid, I don't care, really." She had started to wonder if by pretending that she was just the whore - mainly because of Aurora and Tristan, but also because Davina couldn't be trusted with the knowledge that something else was going on, that she was putting Camille in danger from Aurora. She'd already been taken once, what was there to prevent that from happening again? Sure, she was at the compound, and Klaus had practically glued her to his hip to prevent Aurora from taking her, but maybe there was something else other than friendship?

Bella didn't like the idea of Camille getting hurt, again. She was a normal human being who had an apartment filled with dark objects that were under the protection of her family. She was Klaus' therapist and confidant. She had helped Klaus in so many ways.

And maybe that was why Klaus kept her close. Because he was afraid that Aurora would go for her again. Wouldn't Camille be better off at Myriam's though? It would certainly relieve the feeling of jealousy that Bella had towards her. Especially now that Davina thought the therapist and the hybrid were about to hook up. The feeling only started a few days ago when she saw Klaus and Camille talk quietly in the courtyard, but it was there, and she hated it. "Yeah, I'd better go. Merry Christmas, Davina."

"You too," she smiled back at the woman. "We'll talk soon."

~o.O.o~

"Not her, either!"

She shouldn't have been surprised, really, that when she returned to the compound after a day of shopping - and additional pampering with a nice manicure, Klaus was yelling, and the sound of a battle was going on right inside the compound.

Was that Rebekah Klaus was trying to hold back? His loving sister, the one he spoke so highly of? What was going on? Everyone in the courtyard had a panicked look on their face, and they were now looking at her. Including a very much possessed Rebekah. Her black eyes were telling. Oh, crap.

Rebekah managed to get free from Klaus and used her vampire speed to get to Bella, but Klaus was faster and stopped her right before she could do anything. "And certainly not her!" Klaus said as he pulled his sister away from Bella and eventually managed to get her into a choke hold on the table.

"Ahh, those poor, little humans," Rebekah said with a smile on her face. "There's Cami the therapist and Bella, the whore, and you're so afraid you're going to ruin them both… Trying to be their white knight, keeping them safe as if they're breakable objects." She managed to launch herself off the table but Klaus was able to keep her from running away again.

Bella watched Klaus as his gaze quickly shifted to her and Cami before settling back on Rebekah. Klaus looked horrified as his sister spoke.

"They're not precious, Nik. Every woman you and Elijah brought into our lives turns into poison. Cami just wants to be loved and appreciated. Bella? She's so scared and broken that she doesn't even care that you're making most decisions for her. Wrap them in bubble wrap, why won't you?" Rebekah laughed as she watched Cami run away. "She'll grow toxic too!" Her gaze then shifted to Bella, who wasn't moving a muscle. "Look at her, Nik, like a deer caught in headlights, too afraid to move, trusting you to have everything under control or so lost in life that she doesn't even care about her own anymore."

"Stop talking, sister," Klaus warned her and was grateful that his brother was now helping him to contain her. Yes, he was still the strongest, but a little help couldn't hurt. She was right, of course. Camille was too precious of a human being to be hurt, he had pulled her into his world and put her in danger, and she needed to be taken care of as he had failed to do so. And Bella, his beautiful enigma, trusted him with her entire being and that, as history showed, was dangerous for her even though he would do anything not to betray that trust. The worst part of it all was that he could hear Bella's heart race above everything else that was going on.

Maybe taking her away from Débauche had been the worst idea ever.

"Oh, I'm right, aren't I?" Rebekah cackled. "You look like a puppy who's just been kicked!"

"Rebekah!" Elijah pushed her back onto the table. "Ignore her, Niklaus," he reminded his brother, who turned to help him keep their sister on the table.

"No, no!" Rebekah struggled against her brother's hold.

"Keep her down," Freya said with as much confidence as she could muster when she walked into the courtyard and approached her siblings. She looked bloodied and weak, and Bella felt so confused. When Freya produced a knife to slice off whatever, Bella left her shopping bags and ran upstairs to the bedroom. Behind her, she could hear Freya chant and Rebekah cry out in agony, and it was just too much. Too much.

How did Camille do this? Well, it was easy, she didn't actually live at the compound where the threat level could go from green to red within minutes. She had a place of her own, distance. But Bella didn't want distance; she wanted Klaus. She knew that by agreeing to live with him that she'd encounter some trouble but this was getting ridiculous. While she'd lived a somewhat fearful life for five long years, she had believed it would have been over by now, or at least things that she could understand.

Cold One trouble? Yeah, no problem with that. Other challenges? Nearly every day? How was this healthy? How could Bella go on and pretend that everything was alright? It wasn't. She wanted to stand by Klaus with everything that was going on in his life; he deserved that, but at what cost?

And she had felt more in the loop with his life when she was still living at Myriam's. Yes, Klaus told her everything when they were in bed, but right now she felt as if she was on the outside. He was the only one who included her.

Frustrated, Bella poured herself a glass of bourbon and threw it back while sounds of struggling and then laughter could be heard from downstairs. Who was she kidding? She had no right to think like this.

She was existing, and that was what was important. Her feelings only got in the way of making other people happy. Damn that Peter for telling her to feel something. It only made things worse. Bella was strong, and she had a hot boyfriend who was going out of his way to make her feel loved, and she was always presentable for him. What else could she possibly want?

It wasn't as if she was a pushover. Hell no, she had an opinion of her own and Klaus liked that. Bella wasn't a meek, little lamb either, but despite the fact that Peter had given her the temporary 'all clear' on the Cold One front, she now felt that it was best not to leave the bedroom anymore. Maybe only go back and front to the kitchen for food.

Create a new bubble world like Débauche had been for the last two years. Maybe by restricting herself, she wouldn't end up feeling as scared like this all the time. Bella filled another glass and barricaded the French doors that lead to the walkway. There was still an entrance through the study anyway, something she preferred because she could keep an eye on that one.

She felt a little bit sad about closing the doors if she had to be honest. The courtyard was beautifully decorated for Christmas and she had sat in awe the day before, just to look at its sheer awesomeness. It was impressive. Tasteful for the most part. But sacrifices had to be made.

Bella'd rather choose her excitement than to be surprised by it. This was good. She refilled her glass and sat down on the bed as she unpacked her backpack. While she had bought presents for everyone - and they were still downstairs - she had also bought herself some chocolate, and she had ventured into a bookstore and hadn't been able to stop herself from buying more books. More silly fiction books to add to her collection. They weren't going to smarten her up, but at least they made her happy.

When she reached for her glass, she was surprised to find Klaus' hand on it. Allowing her eyes to follow his arm up to his face, she smiled at him. "Can I have that?"

Sighing, he downed it and put the empty glass back down. "We need to talk," he said in his 'I mean business' voice. "And it cannot wait."

Bella studied his face and swallowed hard. He had a mixture of sadness and fear written all over his face and all she wanted was to pull him into her arms and tell him that everything was going to be alright, but she feared that he was going to tell her that she had to go and pack her bags to go back to Myriam. "You want me to leave, don't you?"


	25. Your Friend, The Reaper

A/N: Celebrating 200 reviews on this story! Yes, I know that now you got 3 chapters in one week. I don't care. I love you guys. Thank you for sticking with the story and enjoying it!

xxx Buggy

* * *

Surprised by her question, he sat down on the bed with her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he watched her face. Bella looked as if she was anticipating a positive answer; there was a flash of disappointment on her face, but also a hint of resignation. He never quite knew what to make of her, and that was what kept him on his toes around her. "Now why would you think about that nonsense? Do you want to leave?"

"No, I don't want to leave you, I don't. But I can understand if you'd want me to," she said as she plucked an invisible piece of lint off his shirt and sighed. "And maybe Rebekah was right, you know."

"Rebekah was under the influence of a curse, and that made her say things she didn't really mean," he smiled at her. "Or at least, perhaps she did. But has someone ripping you to shreds with their words have stopped you from anything before?"

"It's not just that. It's probably my fault, things that go through my mind. Things that I shouldn't even think about…" Bella sighed as she met his eyes. "You're not going to ask me to leave?"

"No, love," he smiled warmly at her. "I had an exciting day with Camille and Detective Kinney. It appears that Lucien had compelled him to think less of himself and he was about to end his life, and I simply couldn't allow that to happen. Camille looked heartbroken, and it was pathetic to see a man sit like that." He sucked in a breath. "So I helped him. A little bit of compulsion, some words…"

"How did that make you feel?"

"She said it was uncharacteristic of me to show kindness like that, and it made me realize that she, too, thinks I'm a monster," he said after a pause. "And I don't deny that I am, but I also knew that you're the only person in my life who sees beyond all that. If you'd been there, you'd have smiled proudly."

"You have a good heart, Klaus, it's just that not everyone appreciates the way you're showing it," she replied and took a deep breath as she caressed his cheek. She was still wondering why he wanted to talk to her - something deep inside told her that it was a different kind of talk that he wanted to have.

Was this going to be about the fact that she stood nailed to the floor when a psychotic vampire lunged at her? It wasn't anything new; Jasper Whitlock had done the same thing. The main difference was that he had indeed been much like a live grenade, could go off at anytime.

Oh, she had been scared. Confused and scared. Bella had no idea what was going on when she walked in on all of that, but she didn't respond to it until Freya started to cut Rebekah's skin. That was just something she didn't need to see. It was gross.

"I'm working on the part where I have to run away when something like that happens, I know that," she eventually said. "You've said it before, I'm not okay even after all those years, but I've never been one to show my emotions much or talk about them. I either implode or explode."

It was then that he realized something that he should have seen before. Yes, she had her depressions a couple of times a year, but it almost appeared as if she had found a way to shut off her emotions without the pesky little side effects it came with when being a vampire. And this could prove problematic if she'd be turned. She was caring, she cared for people, for him, deeply, but she was ignoring herself. He didn't want to have a Ripper on his hands should she decide to turn, if it's the right moment.

On the contrary, with her showing so much control over her feelings - until she reached a breaking point and plunged into a deep hole she had to claw her way out of - she'd make an excellent vampire. The learning stages would be a lot easier to handle for her. "How did you feel when I left you?" Her behavior had shown him how she had felt; as if the world had fallen apart and not caring about anything anymore. He was somewhat grateful that she had ended up with Lucien and not someone else.

"I don't see why that's relevant, really."

"Love, I don't want to push you to do anything you don't want to, but you need-"

"I need, what? To be in touch with my feelings? I am, Klaus. I feel the bad things and then let them go as soon as I feel them," she shot at him. "In some cases, I may act out, but the thing is, if I'd stop to consider everything the way it's supposed to be felt, then there'd be nothing left of me. I'd be this sad, sorry mess of a person. Weak. And if something bad happens, it's usually my fault anyway so why bother you or anyone else with that?" She pushed herself away from him and looked at him. "You're just like him. Why is it so important for you to know how or what I feel? I'm here, aren't I? I'm on your side; I'm with you. And not because you made me, but because I want to."

He smiled at that. "Fair enough."

She crawled into his lap and made herself comfortable against him. "What was wrong with Rebekah?"

"Oh, just a typical cursed stake that she'd been staked with courtesy of the Strix," he sighed as he kissed the top of her head. "We're going to have our hands full with them. What did you learn today?"

"That we really need your dead brother for the last part of that book unless you have a cipher laying around," she said as she put her arms around his neck. "But you know what? It's fine. The story about that other Singer, who wiped out thousands of Cold Ones all those years ago after turning, could be real, so if I turn, I will be able to rid the world of them as well."

"We're not certain of that."

"No, but in the absence of more information, this is all we're going to get. A theory. Unless there's some way to talk to your brother," she shrugged and softly kissed him. "But don't worry, unless Peter warns us or if we spot another Cold One in the Quarter, I don't want to turn just yet."

"Good," he smiled at her. "Now, the reason I wanted to talk to you…"

"That wasn't it?"

"No," he snickered and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I think you're right. Well, I know you're right."

"About?"

"About not including you. I know it's what we both decided because my siblings weren't particularly trusting you, but you know what? Sod them. You're family, and it's time that they finally accept that. They'll have no choice in the matter. So, get appropriately dressed, we're going to celebrate Christmas in a bit. And you should meet Rebekah properly. You'll like her."

"Properly?"

"While we're not hosting a ball this Christmas, we do like to make an effort," he replied with an amused look on his face. "Dress up."

"Oh, yeah?" She smirked as she moved around on his lap and straddled him. "Will you be wearing a suit?"

"Don't be ridiculous, a dinner jacket thrown over these clothes will do."

~o.O.o~

She had been surprised when Elijah dropped off the remaining members of the A-Squad and Myriam wasn't quite sure she wanted them to work for her again. Myriam had known from the very start that their allegiance could be bought. That was how they came to work for her in the first place and now they were back. Minus the two troublemakers, Aria, and Ashley. While Myriam had appreciated how Aria's mind worked, she was too greedy, and Ashley only followed her wherever.

Yes, there was no doubt that the other girls had a mind of their own, a good set of brains, but Myriam wasn't sure if she could trust them ever again. On top of that, she had realized that she liked a team of assassins working for her and had acquired Abeebee as a start. Funny enough, her name began with an A too. Certain circles talked about this woman in a very positive way, and Myriam had decided to snatch her up.

She'd never expected her to be a complete knock-out, too. Apart from her unique skills, Abeebee was absolutely beautiful with legs for days. Her mixed ancestry made her look exotic beyond words, and while she had been hired to enhance Débauche's security team, Myriam had also told her that, if Abeebee wanted, she could do extracurricular activities, much like the A-squad had done before their departure.

Abeebee was also quite vocal about Alina, Autumn and Ace rejoining the team. She was against it. As she explained to Myriam, she never liked the girls much. Always taking jobs away from her and she had to work twice as hard to be noticed (or not noticed). However, not entirely heartless, Myriam decided to give the girls a second chance now that Elijah and his sister Rebekah had taken out Aria and Ashley.

She knew just the place for the girls to start their road to redemption; cleaning. Was that a little bit harsh? Perhaps. But they had to start somewhere. Myriam wasn't mad that they left after getting a better offer, she was pissed about the fact that they worked for Aurora. Despite not knowing her, they should have known better when they were asked to protect the coffin carrying an Original.

Now, those Original Vampires weren't all they were cracked up to be, but they deserved respect. Those girls should have aborted the mission, especially knowing Myriam's long history with at least one of them. In any case, Elijah called it her Christmas present and she was happy to have her girls back.

Sticking to the rules that he wasn't going to enter the club or that she'd come over at the compound - for him - he invited her to a hotel room where she gave him a Christmas present. If she had to be honest with herself, it had been something she'd wanted to do ever since she laid eyes on him when he entered the club the first time. Elijah Mikaelson was an arrogant prick, yes, but he was simply too irresistible on a more physical level, and Myriam liked physicality.

And it was beyond what she had expected. Elijah had proven to be quite the master of seduction himself. Now, it would be rude to compare, but where Klaus had been more animalistic - for a better word, Elijah was gentle, wanted to know if she was doing alright before taking what he wanted.

She had loved it how their bodies melted into each other, more than once that night and by the time they were truly done, she felt as giddy as a schoolgirl. She'd needed this, and when Elijah had told her he had no intention of giving up his advances towards her, something snapped inside, and she wanted him. Fully. Even centuries old vampires could get horny.

Ever the gentleman, Elijah wanted to escort her home, and she allowed him to, but when they passed St. Anne's Church, a scream filled the silent night, and Elijah briefly paused as he looked at Myriam. "Camille," he said breathlessly before speeding off into the general direction of the scream.

~o.O.o~

"Niklaus!"

He woke to his brother's voice calling from the courtyard. It was still night and checking the time; he realized that he'd only been asleep for half an hour. Fortunately, his Bella had been fast asleep long before he had drifted off after their private Christmas celebration, happy that they didn't have to pretend she was anything other than his girlfriend anymore.

Granted, Aurora was likely to remain a headache for them all until she wouldn't be. While the Mikaelson, and Klaus especially, had the reputation of being monsters and killing whoever got in their way, it was surprisingly hard to kill old friends. Because they were just that. Old. And former friends. Sentimentality.

He and Elijah had talked about ridding themselves of the trio, but actions were harder than words. It was easy to talk. In the end, death was inevitable for everyone. Including for himself, but he was a thousand years old, the perfect picture of health and vitality - just ask Bella - and a conqueror of death. Well, he was just hard to kill, that was all. Death came easier to non-Original vampires. Non-hybrids.

Klaus had a conversation with Camille about death, once. She thought that he had a trauma about death. That death did matter to him, if not those of others, it would be his own. Of course, he didn't want to die. Why else would he have run from Mikael so many times? Why else would he have killed those who were after him and his family?

He didn't care about death. Death didn't care about the people it took, or was gifted, so why would he care? The people he'd killed all deserved it. Those who died around him, that he liked or loved, didn't deserve it, but it was his fault. His failure to protect them, to protect those who couldn't do it themselves. Mostly humans.

And Camille had pointed out that he was afraid of Death, because why else would he surround himself with only immortals? That when a mortal was orbiting in his life that his anxiety levels went up? Because human life was precious and he and his family would destroy them, one way or the other.

He had no idea how he'd react if something would happen to Bella. To Camille. Take revenge was the most obvious response, and he'd avenge them proper. He'd tear out their hearts and place their heads on a spike for display. The humans in his orbit were under his protection - should anything happen to them, it'd be a failure on his part.

And this was also the reason why it was hard to end the lives of old friends or old enemies. Life was precious, immortal or not. Because you do build up some idea of a relationship with them, a kinship, that you'll try to avoid killing them. No matter how much they annoyed you or pestered you. You only returned the favor long enough until both parties would get bored and left.

"Niklaus!"

His brother's annoying voice jostled him out of his dark thoughts, his temporary distraction, and he silently slipped out of bed, careful not to wake his Bella. He got into some clothes and went to the walkway to see what had gotten his brother's nuts so tightly wound. It was her scent that disturbed him the most. Her dead scent. Cami. But dead. Rushing down the stairs, he took Cami's body into his arms, ready to feed her his blood. She couldn't be dead.

He had failed.

"Niklaus, don't," Elijah said as he pulled his brother's arm away from Camille's mouth. "She wouldn't want to become a vampire; you know that."

Yes, he knew that. But it was just unacceptable. Without Camille in his life… well. "What happened?" He managed to let out, trying so hard to find a heartbeat, but it was gone. No vampire blood would be able to bring her back. They could inject blood into her heart with a syringe and manually pump the blood into her system - it had been done before. Camille had to live, against her wishes.

He was such a jerk.

"Aurora," Elijah said quietly as he observed his brother. He could see the cogs in his head spinning, likely trying to come up with a scenario that would bring Camille back without her being infuriated with Niklaus for turning her into a vampire. "As it turned out, Aurora was under the impression that you were in love with Camille."

"That's preposterous!" Klaus spat, cradling Camille's body tightly as he rocked her back and forth. There might be a few post-mortem broken bones.

"We didn't have much time trying to get an explanation from Aurora, but it appears that Aurora had Camille compelled. She told her that after your night of passion, she'd have to drink Aurora's blood from a vial and kill herself," Elijah calmly explained, he found it remarkable that Niklaus was handling the death of his friend this well; or he was merely pretending to be. "When that didn't happen, Aurora realized she had made a mistake and killed her. Since she never drank the blood, Camille died as a human."

"And I ended Aurora," Myriam's voice sounded. Klaus wasn't sure where she had come from but looked up when a heart and Aurora's head dropped on the ground next to him.

"You did what!" Klaus breezed, looking up to his friend, anger in his eyes. Did she really say what he had heard her say just now?

Myriam felt lucky that Klaus was still holding on to Camille's dead body, almost like a puppy with the last remainder of his broken toy; otherwise he would have likely killed her in return. "Aurora's exact words were; 'It's the whore, isn't it? I knew something was up; I'm going to kill that little bitch!', I feared for Bella's life, and I ended Aurora. To keep Bella safe. Bella's my priority, Klaus, and she might be here with you now, but she's still under my protection as well."

Klaus gently lowered Camille's body to the ground and carefully stood up, lowering his gaze upon his friend. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Ridding this world from evil? Yes."

"You have made things a lot more complicated, more difficult than they should have been!"

"Oh, lighten up, Klaus. The sooner you deal with the unholy trinity, the sooner you can truly play house with Bella. You should be thanking me for this because I know that you or Elijah wouldn't have been able to make this decision."

Klaus scowled as he paused to think and then looked up to his bedroom where his Bella was still sound asleep. "Let's move Camille out of the courtyard, find a medical examiner we can compel and organize her a proper send-off."

"Are you sure about this?" Elijah asked carefully. He knew his brother wanted to bring her back but to be so willing to honor Camille was something entirely foreign to him. Where was the anger? Where was the throwing of things?

"Camille once told me that if she passed, she would want a wake at Rousseau's, good music, good food, plenty of alcohol. If I'm not allowed to find a way to bring her back, then we will do what she wanted," Klaus replied as he kept his eyes on the bedroom, stabilizing his emotions by hearing Bella's heartbeat and breath. His home. "I believe she has plans for the day so we will not inform her of Camille's death just yet."

"What will I do with Aurora's heart and head?" Myriam asked, a knowing smile appearing on her face. "Would you like me to mount her head on a stick?"


	26. Most Haunted

Davina's friend Josh looked at the two girls in disbelief. "I can't believe you two are going to do this."

"Relax, Josh," Davina smiled at him. "Nothing can go wrong. It's really just a simple suspension spell. The poison stops our heart, and the spell keeps us from dying for good."

Bella wasn't entirely sure about this, but if she died for real, she'd turn anyway. She didn't fear death, and this was the only way to get the cipher to Kol's code from the man himself. She had Davina take the lead on this one. She smiled a little. If Klaus would find out that she was playing with her life like this, he'd kill her himself. And Davina. And likely Josh as well.

"Cool. Yeah, now I'm totally on board. Uh, just except for the part about the poison, your heart, and whatever you said at the end there about dying," Josh remarked sarcastically as he eyed his friend. When Davina explained more, he still wasn't convinced, but when the two girls were wobbly on their feet, he knew that they had already taken the poison. Bitches.

"You're our link to the living, Josh. Whatever you do, don't let go," Davina said as she took Bella's hand and sliced her hand open before cutting her own arm. "Your hand goes there, Bella," she said weakly before slicing her own hand and Josh'. "And you, Josh, hold on tightly. Don't let go. Whatever happens, don't let go, or we'll be stuck there forever."

"For the record, if you looked up "uncool" in the dictionary, there would just be a tiny drawing of what's happening right now."

Bella wasn't sure what had happened, but she suddenly found herself standing next to her body, seeing Davina and Josh as well. "Trippy," she muttered as she looked over to Davina, who seemed to know exactly what she was doing. Bella followed her out of the room, still a bit unsure of all of this because technically, Bella was sharing her blood with Davina in the living world, something she had promised Klaus not to do because her blood was special. However, she couldn't help but to be curious about this dark version of New Orleans; there was no sun.

Weren't the Ancestors supposed to be something similar to light?

"This place is creeping me out," Bella hissed to Davina as they were walking on Bourbon Street. The eerily quiet Bourbon Street, deserted. It was an exact copy of it, a mirror image, but so dark. Not even night like dark. Just… off.

"Shh," Davina shushed her as she anxiously looked around to see if they were being followed. She wasn't supposed to be here; the Ancestral Witches were going to be pissed if they found her here. When they walked passed an alley, she was pulled in, roughly. "Stop it! Let go of me!" She squeaked as she struggled against the person's hold.

"Easy now, easy now! Don't take off my head," the man replied soothingly as his hands remained on her.

Bella joined them in the alley and was ready to punch the man's kidneys when Davina spoke. "Kol?" This was Kol Mikaelson? Bella was impressed. Well, she should have known that the younger Mikaelson sibling was as gorgeous as the rest of his family, but wow. If things wouldn't turn out with Klaus after all, maybe she could have another Mikaelson to play with? No, that was insane. Improper.

She was a one guy girl. She wasn't going to do anything to hurt her relationship with Klaus but damn. If this truly was Kol Mikaelson, she might be in trouble.

"Come on; you don't recognize this roguish grin? I guess my true face is just too handsome."

Davina scrunched up her nose. "You certainly sound like Kol Mikaelson."

"Oh, Davina Claire…" Kol pulled the girl into his arms for a big hug; there was this huge smile on his face that Bella found endearing, but she knew that he was dangerous. Dead or not, he was still an Original who liked to cause trouble. She loved trouble. No, she was in trouble if she allowed her hormones to continue to rage on in her body. "Oh, you are a sight for bleary and battered eyes! You're also stark raving mad. Do you have any idea what would happen if the Ancestors found you here?"

Bella startled when the electricity around them started to buzz and flicker and turned to watch what was going on, only to have to run after Kol and Davina as they went looking for a safer place to talk. Yes, introductions would come later, and she'd try not to drool. She remained at a distance so the two lovebirds could catch up - yes, it was evident that Kol was madly in love with the witch, but she could also see that she was also a means to his end.

There were light bruises on Kol's face, even Bella could see them from where she was, but it took Davina quite some time to see them. Poor girl, she was so smitten that she didn't particularly care for how her boyfriend looked.

"Kol, what's happening to you here?" Davina lightly touched his face, careful not to hurt him.

There was a sigh, and the typical Mikaelson look when someone was just about to give an evasive answer. "It's nothing. Really." It was then when Kol decided to change the subject and notice Bella. "Who's this?"

"Hi, I'm Bella," Bella said with a slight wave of her hand. "I'm with her."

"Obviously," he said before looking back at Davina. "You shouldn't have come here, Davina. There's a darkness to this place. To bring someone else with you? That's insane."

Davina sighed and frowned as she listened to him. "Kol, I had to find you. I think I figured out a way to bring you back!" She pulled the piece of parchment from her back pocket and handed it to him for him to start reading.

Bella leaned against the counter, observing Kol's face as he paced and read. She was wondering if Davina was as observant as she was because he didn't look too pleased with the spell. It was probably legit.

"Hate to break it to you, love... It's a fake. Looks like someone's trying to put one over on you," he said as he placed the parchment on the bar and poured himself a drink, nervously eyeing Bella. "Why are you here?"

"Not now, you have your witch to deal with," Bella replied and shook her head as she watched Davina narrow her eyes on her boyfriend. "She knows you're lying."

He looked at Davina, the bottle of bourbon still in his hand. Yeah, she knew he was lying. For good reason.

"I don't get it, isn't this what you want? To live again?"

Kol threw back the glass of bourbon in one go and gathered his thoughts before speaking again. "More than anything, Davina Claire. But do you have any idea how dangerous that spell is? I haven't seen anything even remotely like it since…" There was the familiar look of panic on Kol's face. "The Strix Coven. This is their work, isn't it? Please tell me you haven't done something foolish."

Bella knew about the Strix. Of them. They were Elijah's posse, and they had a coven of witches to themselves. Of course they had. Power was everything, wasn't it? Why were immortals so good at screwing things up? This was yet another reason why she wished to remain human for a little longer; just to experience the reasonable unknown.

"They can give me power, Kol. Real power! I can bring you back!"

Bella hadn't known that Davina had let herself get into it with the Strix, but what could Bella have done? To Davina, she was an adult entertainer, working at the Mikaelson's, she couldn't possibly have exposed herself as more.

Kol looked desperate and genuinely worried about the little witch. "Find another way, love. Not with them. Nothing is worth what they'll make you do."

And just like that, lights started to flicker, the jukebox was quiet, electricity crackling and while Kol had pulled Davina to safety, Bella had been too much inside of her head to hide with them when the Ancestors came into the pub. She was standing so close to them, and yet; they didn't seem to notice her. To see her.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she waved her hand in front of the closest face, and it didn't even blink. She peeked over the counter with a big grin on her face and did a thumbs up before heading out the door and ran to another street where she started to make as much noise as possible. This was awesome; the ancestors couldn't see her.

After she had gotten the attention of the Ancestors, she ran back to Rousseau's. "Did you see that?" she said excitedly. "They didn't see me!"

"Curious," Kol said as he walked towards her and observed her. "Now, what are you? Who are you?"

"I get paid to have sex with your brother."

"Nah, there's more to that, come on, Darling, you can fill me in while I walk you back to St. Anne's," he said, Davina momentarily forgotten by something that the Ancestors couldn't see Bella, and yet, he could. "So, tell me why you're here."

"I just need to know what you use as a cipher for your special little language. I'm doing research to my lineage, and you made notes in that book. I want to read them," Bella replied casually as she followed along.

"More."

"That's it."

"No, there's more," Kol said, impatience evident in his voice. Gone was the nice Kol, the one who Davina loved, back was Kol Mikaelson, Klaus' brother. "You're going to tell me."

"Or what? You'll bore me to death?" Bella rolled her eyes at him. "No, all I want is the cipher."

"Is it because of Davina? You don't want her to know?"

"She knows enough," Bella said after a while, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "But if I share more with her, Klaus will have my head. So. Cipher."

Kol let out a frustrated sigh. "I'll have to know which book, Darling, I used several."

"The one about the Travelers."

"They're long dead, Darling. They've done their last massive sacrifice to raise the first immortal, and that was the end of the lines. The Gemini coven? Well, last thing I heard they were all gone too. So whatever your business is with the Travelers, just keep your nose out of it and don't worry your pretty little head," Kol replied as he pat Bella on the head as if she was a good little dog.

She looked at him with a shrug and raised her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Her sleeve slightly dropped, revealing the scar left by James on her wrist.

Kol blinked when he noticed the scar, grabbing her wrist and looked at it, before looking at Bella and looking back at the wrist. "So you survived a Cold One, whooptiedoo."

"Use your brain, idiot," Bella rolled her eyes at him. "Klaus had a friend of his do family tree, and I found out that one of my ancient cousins is from Bulgaria and was a Traveler."

Swallowing hard, something inside Kol's brain clicked. "Thank God we're at the church," he said under his breath before looking at Davina. "Love, return to the land of the living. I just need a few more minutes with your friend."

"But, you need to come back with me!"

"It's not my time yet, love. Once you're gone, the both of you, I shall wait for my resurrection but please, Davina, don't use the spell by the Strix."

Davina huffed. "You don't have a choice in the matter," she walked back to him to kiss him goodbye. "And just so you know, I take offense that you're choosing Bella over me right now."

"I understand, and I'll make it up to you. I promise, now go, before they find you."

"Five minutes. Then I'll use brute force to bring Bella back."

"Five minutes," Kol replied with a nod and watched as Davina disappeared inside the church. "Nik always has a nose for the particular ones," he remarked as he sat down on the steps and as he was still holding onto Bella's arm, yanked her down with him. "You're his whore, then?"

"Not quite," she replied with a small smile.

"I've seen him go to that club where you work."

"Yes, but we only have five minutes so unless you want to waste that by going over your brother's relationship with me, you better start asking the right questions so you can give me the cypher for that book," Bella said curtly as she pulled her arm back and pushed her sleeve back down.

"You're obviously not a doppelganger."

"Obviously. Thank God," she huffed and rolled her eyes. "I've been told about them, doesn't sound too grand."

"So… you must be from one of the other two Petrova lines. From the brothers."

"Yep," she said with a nod. "Want me to tell you?" She was so afraid that she wouldn't be given enough time to get the information that she needed.

"You've been around Cold Ones."

"You're just stating the obvious," she said as she motioned to her wrist. "It's a long and complicated story, but yes, I survived the Cold Ones. For now."

Kol thought for a moment, thinking about the book, knowing what he wrote on the back of it. "But why do you need the information in that book? Unless… you're from the Cold One magnet line of the Petrova line."

"Bingo."

"Bloody hell, you're a singer?"

Bella nodded slowly. "We think that I might be like Carmen, I need to know what's in your notes. That's why I'm here, because of your knowledge about them."

"Does Klaus know that you're here?"

"Please," she huffed. "He would have found a way to stop me and it wouldn't be pretty because I can't be compelled."

"Right," Kol said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Well, what's in that book won't help you much. The Cold Ones, especially the Volturi, tend to keep their secrets just that. All the little snippets that I've learned through my travels are all safely in here," he said as he knocked on his forehead.

"What's in the book, Kol?"

"Something about a prophecy."

"Yes. I need that."

"Why?"

"Because I have it from a quite reliable source that there's a prophecy about me. Hell, we might even think that a part of your family's current prophecy is about me."

"Fuck."

"So. How do I decrypt your words?"

"Have you considered asking a witch to cast a decryption spell on it?"

Bella sighed and shook her head. "I neither trust Freya or Davina to do a proper job. Something's off about Freya and well… Davina… she's just… inexperienced."

Kol let out a breath. "First, alternate with one letter up, two letters down, three up, four down. Then grab the original story about The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. First publication. Elijah has a copy of it in his study. Replace everything of that cipher with every fifth character in the book. If it's a period, it's a period. Good luck."

Bella smiled at him and pecked his cheek. "I do hope you'll allow Davina to resurrect you. I think it'll be interesting."

Kol grinned. "If you're going to kill some Cold Ones, I _definitely_ want to be there. Those sparkly bitches have ruined enough. But I shall tell you of my exploits when I return, storytime!"

She let out a snort. She liked this sibling a lot more than Elijah. "Deal." Before she knew it, she was coming to on the floor of the loft Davina had taken her to, and the girl didn't look all too pleased for Bella's alone time with her boyfriend. "Sorry," she said with a slight grin, feeling as if she got knocked over the head with a sledgehammer - she wouldn't put it past Davina to have actually done that.

"Did you get what you wanted?"

"Yes."

"Good, so did I," Davina said as she straightened herself up and pointed out the door. "I think it's best if we don't meet again, Bella Swan," she spoke as Josh made some noise of objection. "There's clearly things that you do not wish to tell me and I can't have that. It's either full disclosure when being my friend or not."

"Davina…"

"No, I'm serious, Bella. You used me! I should hurt you, but I'm not going to, because you apparently needed Kol's help with something, but as far as you and I go? We're done."

"I think you should go," Josh said as he ushered Bella out of the loft and closed the door. He turned around to face Davina and glared at her. "Seriously?"

"She used me! Now, out of my way, I need to-"

"No," he said as he pushed his friend down on the bed and handed her a bottle of water. "Tell me what it was like. Tell me everything. Drink that bottle and then maybe, maybe then I'll allow you to go."

~o.O.o~

Bella went to the Big Burger to get something to eat. A lot of time had passed since she went to Davina and returned from the Ancestral Plane and she needed to get things straightened out in her head - despite her self-imposed seclusion that she had insisted upon herself the day before.

It wasn't safe out in the open; there was something in the air that made her feel uncomfortable, and it wasn't until she spotted Alina in the distance, keeping an eye on her, that she allowed herself to relax some. Even Myriam was thinking about her. Still.

She needed to eat. She was famished, and while she could have returned home immediately after having done what she had, she needed to take this time for herself. She was relying far too much on Klaus. Bella was independent. She was reverting again. Allowing herself to be put on the sidelines, much as she had allowed Edward to do.

Granted, the biggest reason was because of everything that was going on and, like Klaus; she wanted to stay safe, but if she'd truly wanted to remain safe, wouldn't she just have gone back to Débauche? She wasn't ready for the big bad world. Not yet.

What sane, self-respecting woman would allow her sort of boyfriend sleep with another woman to try to find out what she was up to?

None. It was cheating with consent. Even though… it wasn't. Or was it?

She sat back and chewed on the last bit of her burger. She was so fucked up. She knew Klaus wasn't Edward, but there were similarities, weren't there? He was manipulative, yet he didn't quite manipulate her. Klaus gave her choices but with the slight hope that she'd pick the choice that benefited him. Klaus had his bouts of ignoring her completely, but she didn't mind that much, it wasn't as if the world revolved around her.

Klaus respected her, made sure that she didn't want for anything, but maybe this wasn't the right time to have a relationship with each other. He had this whole family prophecy thing going on and her world got turned upside down when suspicions arose about her being Bella the Cold One Slayer.

And how was that going to work, exactly?

There were just too many unknowns at the moment and maybe she'd be better off at Débauche. Her own apartment. Doing whatever she wanted, dance for an audience again instead of just by herself - even though she was the worst mover ever - have sex with other guys and get paid for it, feel like she mattered again when helping Myriam out with the administration.

Ignoring her problems yet again.

She nearly spilled her drink when Peter sat down in the chair across from her. "Bella, you need to go to the Compound, now. I'll explain later, but you need to go now."

He sounded urgent enough to spook her, gather her things and to start running. What the hell?


	27. Another Day

She found the home empty. Nearly empty, that was. Hayley was quietly sitting on one of the couches in the courtyard, watching Hope who was on a blanket, playing quietly. It was almost as if she was mourning someone.

Bella didn't have much time to register the rest, as, out of nowhere, Myriam appeared and pulled her into a bear hug. Tight. "Can't. Breathe," Bella reminded her friend as she hugged her back. Myriam immediately released her and checked her over to see if she was alright. "I'm okay, what's going on? Peter said I should return immediately and-"

Myriam blinked at that, not having thought of anything other than what they had been dealing with all day. She'd been sick with worry. Not because of the shit that was happening with Klaus and everything, but the knowledge that Bella had gone to a friend and wasn't reachable because she didn't have a cellphone… let's just say that she had been extremely thirsty and ready to sink her teeth into Freya for being… off.

Myriam never meant to stay at the compound; that wasn't the rule, but she felt as if she had to be there. Klaus and Elijah were getting their revenge and play their little mind games, and basically left the grieving female hybrid by herself. Spending the entire day surrounded by misery, she wondered why Bella hadn't snapped yet. But maybe that was the reason why Bella didn't tell anyone where she'd been, to get a little peace and quiet.

Was she going to worry about Peter? In her belief, the Cold Ones were a threat to the girl who had sought refuge with her; it was more important than whatever was going on in the life of the Mikaelsons. "Peter?"

"He appeared at Big Burger, telling me to get here and he sounded quite insistent. Where is everyone?"

"Elijah is doing some Strix business and Klaus is trying to collect Camille's dark objects before they fall into the wrong hands. Hayley… the Strix got to her and Jackson, and he didn't make it," she said quietly as she guided Bella up the stairs towards her room. "Aurora killed Camille last night, and I took care of Aurora, so you won't have to worry about her any longer, but tell me, was there anything else Peter said?"

Bella shook her head, realizing where Myriam wanted to take her. "Hold on," she said as they passed Elijah's library and thanks to his excellent filing system, she found the book she was looking for quite quickly. "I haven't been in any danger today, well… had I died, I would have turned, but it was quite eventful."

"What have you been doing?" Myriam wasn't sure why the girl grabbed The Little Mermaid of all the books out of Elijah's prized collection and continued to go to her room. "Does Klaus know what you've been doing?"

"Looking into myself, because I'm kinda fed up with being a sitting duck. Not being able to turn because we don't have all the information and… well, he knows. He also knows that the information we need is in the back of this book about Travelers and that until today, only one person knew how to decipher it."

"Who?"

Bella smirked as she tossed the book onto the bed and walked around the room to gather a pen, paper and the book in question. "Klaus' dead brother Kol."

"You went to have a seance?"

"Something like that. Davina wanted Kol to check her spell that could return him to the land of the living, and I took the chance to ask questions. We went to the Ancestral Plane."

"That's insane! Have you lost your mind?" Myriam raised her voice, anger and worry evident. "Bella, how do you know you can trust a word he says? It's Kol Mikaelson we're talking about. The trickster."

"I knew that when I went in, I mean, I've heard the stories. I knew he'd help me if I had something that would intrigue him. And my situation is interesting to him. Trust me; he's given me the right way to decipher is code." She sat down on the bed and opened the books before she started to write on her pad. "Cami's dead?" she asked quietly as it finally set in. "How did Klaus take it?"

Myriam sucked in a breath and shook her head. "I don't know if I'm honest. He wanted to bring her back, but that wasn't the essence of Camille, was it? Knowing him, he went to her apartment to gather all the important things before he notifies the authorities."

"Nobody knows she's dead yet?" Bella was shocked at that. Camille was loved by a lot of people in the community, sure they all had a right to know. Were they going to cover up the fact that she had died? Have her body get found days after it happened? Probably yes, if Aurora killed her… maybe that was best. Wouldn't want to alert the mortals of a vampire presence in New Orleans.

"Let them handle it."

She huffed as she continued with the code. "Agreeing to live here and try to start something with Klaus has been a terrible mistake, hasn't it?"

She didn't know how to respond to that. Myriam had been hesitant to let her go; it was that Klaus hadn't left room for objection. But despite all the good that he had done for Bella, she could tell that Bella was suffering in silence. It was one thing to be locked in a building for years where she had all the freedom and non-conflict that she could wish for and a whole other beast in its entirety to live with the Mikaelsons.

After a while, Myriam spoke. "I can't answer that question for you, Bella. But I can tell you that all relationships will go through a time of doubt. You'll have to talk to Klaus about this."

Bella shrugged. "When I talk to him about this kind of thing, he says he understands, but does he, really? I mean, whenever we're together it's nice, and we can talk… but nothing's changed since moving here with him. He doesn't treat me any differently."

Myriam could tell that Bella was getting agitated about it. "How would you describe a relationship?"

Frustrated, Bella put the pen down and looked at Myriam. "Human. With human problems. With no one picking a fight or get in danger or-" she sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know. I love him, or at least I think I do, but with everything that's going on… should I stick around to see what's going to happen or am I going to bail?" She looked at Myriam, whose face she couldn't read and continued. "Or maybe I don't have enough confidence in myself, in Klaus, in our thing what we're having to actually see it through. That maybe, maybe, our paths crossed so we can both fulfill our destiny and then go our separate ways once that happened."

"You should talk to Klaus about this," Myriam repeated. She knew that the Mikaelsons weren't easy to live with, she heard the stories, and if you weren't careful, you'd end up as collateral damage. However, she knew how Klaus felt about her friend and that she had nothing to worry about. But, if she were unhappy, things needed to change.

"I guess," she murmured as she picked up her pen again and continued with the cipher. "Maybe I should let go of my humanity to stop appearing like a whiny little bitch," she eventually said with a small smile on her face as she continued to work.

"Bella…"

"No, I'm serious. I mean, you're a vampire. Can't you just shut off that part of you that makes you question everything when there's no reason to do so?"

"It's either we switch off completely or not."

"Then I opt for the not feeling anything kind of thing," she muttered. "I'm tired of feeling like this."

"It'll only get worse," Myriam smiled at her, yet again worried. Yes, her mood would only get worse when turned. It could be disastrous or work out perfectly. There was no way to tell, really. Not until she would turn. Even if she'd turned, she would be something new entirely - a hybrid. Or was it a tribrid like Hope? Bella had Traveler blood inside of her, her mental shield created by magic and she was a singer. On top of that, it was likely that she still had a little bit of Cold One venom inside of her, seeing as her scar hadn't shrunk in the two years, almost three, that Myriam knew her. Turning her would make her quite powerful, but how much? It was still an unknown. "The only piece of advice I can give you is one you already know yourself; Klaus likes his women strong and vulnerable at the same time. Don't doubt yourself or your actions."

"I know, I know," Bella sighed, not looking up from her task at hand. "And I'm sorry for my temporary loss of insanity; things are merely confusing right now because it feels as if we lead two separate lives."

"I understand, cherie," Myriam replied with a smile and got up to pour herself a bourbon. She was wondering when Peter would grace them with his presence, probably only after Bella translated the pages, which was fine. She didn't want to leave Bella by herself right now with everything that was going on. A part of her was afraid that both Klaus and Elijah wouldn't come home that night. She hoped that her instincts were wrong - they still needed to organize a wake for Camille. On top of that, she was afraid that once Bella had her information, that she'd run. Again, another feeling and two years of experience. "How about you rest some? I'm sure that Peter will wake you when he's here."

"I can't sleep now, Myriam, I'm so close in finding the last piece of the puzzle that's me."

"And it'll still be there when you wake up."

"I'll go to bed when Klaus gets back," Bella muttered and continued her work. Whatever Kol had been writing, it was a lot of information, or maybe it was something wrapped in a whole lot of nothing.

It was maybe half an hour later when Freya walked into the room with Hope's toy. The toy knight on a horse that Klaus had made for Rebekah a thousand years ago and it was Hope's favorite. "Had I known you were home I would have given you this sooner, but Klaus asked me to give this to you so you could keep it safe," she said a little bit abruptly. "I have no idea why, but you shouldn't lose sight of it. Granted, I've protected it from magic until he informs me why this toy is so important, but he told me to give it to you."

"Are you okay, Freya?" Bella eyed her carefully. The witch looked a little frayed around the edges, almost as if she'd been casting spells all night. "Get some rest."

"No, no, I can't. Klaus went missing and-"

"Freya!" Myriam was quick to put a hand over Freya's mouth. "We've discussed this."

"What?" Bella blinked as she dropped her pen. "Klaus is missing? And you knew?!"

Myriam sighed as she let go of Freya and rejoined Bella on the bed, gently rubbing her back. "He's not missing. He's simply not picking up his phone. That could mean anything. Freya's been doing everything that she can to locate him."

"And what if she can't?"

"Relax," Freya assured her. "He's still alive; I know that much."

"Why didn't you tell me that he was missing?" Bella turned to Myriam, worry, and anger in her voice. "Something could have happened to him. Maybe Tristan got him, or those Strix witches or someone simply decided to sideline him because he's a giant pain in their ass?"

"And that's why I can't rest. Trust me, Bella, I will find him. You just do your part and keep the little toy safe," Freya said as she left the room in a hurry. If she hadn't left, Bella would have thrown the book at her for sure.

How was she supposed to continue with decrypting Kol's work now? Klaus was missing. "I should go out there and find him."

"No, you're staying right here. Peter sent you home, remember?"

"And what if he's the reason Klaus is missing?" She felt a panic attack coming up. She needed to move, to stay calm. To focus. Klaus had gotten in worse trouble before. Mikael was the first thought that came to her. Mikael had been the worst. Klaus had told her that. No matter the torture or the stabbing others did, Mikael had always been the worst. He was going to be alright. He was the damn original hybrid. He couldn't be killed.

All of her doubt from earlier, her self-pity, thrown out the window. Klaus was hers, no matter how weird their relationship was, or how inclusive, he was hers. She was his. The best thing she could do is to allow the Mikaelsons do what they did best and take care of their own, and she needed to get a handle on her own path. She still had Klaus' blood inside of her. If necessary, she could turn and become the powerful creature that everyone thought she'd become. "Fine," she eventually said as she headed towards the kitchen to get herself a sandwich.

She walked back into her room carrying a lot of sweet treats and walked into Myriam talking to Peter. Bella had told her about Peter, but this was the first time they had met in person, and it seemed to be going well. "There's a grieving hybrid downstairs and a witch on the other side of this house who's on edge as well, and here you are, strolling in as if you own the place."

"Someone's feeling better," Peter remarked as he eyed her. "You had me worried for a little there."

"What do you want?"

"Several things, actually," Peter said as he sat down in a chair and pulled his feet underneath him. "First, I want ya to finish the thing you were working on. Second… Uhm… I assisted one of your girls, Myriam, when they were keeping an eye on Bella. I am so sorry, but I could not stop Alina in time to fall off that roof… She broke her neck and died; I had to think quick, and she's hidden inside a dumpster in a darkened alley."

"Alina?" Bella's voice hitched. She had always liked Alina. "She's dead?" Why was everyone dying around her all of a sudden?

"Not quite," Myriam said soothingly. "Like yourself, she has a little extra to get her heart pumping again. The only thing you should worry about is that she'll be smelling like garbage when she wakes up."

"So… not dead?"

"No, Cherie, she'll only want to drink your blood when she comes back."

"Ew, my friend will smell like a garbage can when she wants to take a bite out of me," Bella eventually quipped after the cogs in her head stopped spinning. She should mourn the loss of Alina, but with her coming back, she didn't have to. She hated that part of the supernatural community so much. So much. But at least she wouldn't lose her friend. But both Jackson and Camille were dead dead. And that sucked.

"Thirdly, it appears that there's a powerful vampire in town who has Cullen friends," Peter stated carefully, watching Bella take in the news. "He must have told them that the Volturi ban on New Orleans doesn't matter to them as he's the threat and he needs their help. That's uh, how Alina ended up on the roof, she tried to take on Emmett, and he tossed her aside to get to you, which is why I told you to run."

She nearly dropped the pastry she was munching on in surprise. "No, no, no, they can't be here. No way. The Volturi… you said so, Peter. They forbade… no." She wasn't ready for them. Yes, she wanted to get rid of them, but she was nowhere near ready. "How? Who?" Powerful vampire? Surely Elijah would have told Klaus about being friends with the Cullens. Was it Klaus?

Bella felt the color drain from her face. There's no way that Klaus… would he? It would explain why he wasn't there, that he was missing. Probably to save face. That he couldn't face her for knowing the Cold Ones personally. But Klaus wasn't the threat. It was one of the Trinity and with Aurora gone… Lucien or Tristan. Oh, Lucien was good, very good, to fool her senses. "Do they… do they know I'm here?"

"That's highly likely, but you do not need to worry," Peter assured her. "They'll focus on the Mikaelsons first, seeing as that's the main reason for Tristan and Lucien to call them, I don't think those two know about your trouble with them."

"Not to worry?" Bella huffed, getting off the bed again and started to pace. "I've been running from them for seven years, Peter. I should never have left Débauche. I…" Everything was coming all at once now. The pressure. The fear. The worry. Where was Klaus? The disappointment in herself that she needed Klaus. The feeling of being disgusted with herself that she wanted to hide in Débauche. The fact that the ones who've been hiding her for two years were now in danger and it was her fault - which was ridiculous even to think this way. If anything, her friends were able to protect themselves just quite well.

Myriam saw how Bella was close to getting back into Isa mode, and she wanted to do something to stop it. The Cold Ones coming to New Orleans had been inevitable; she couldn't run from them forever, and now she had to be brave. She had to be the brave woman Myriam knew she was. "Bella, you're still safe," she said reassuringly as she watched Bella pace around. "Take a breath."

"Bella, the best thing you can do righ' now, for your own survival and those you love, is to continue with what you've been doing and stay calm. We've got this. We've got your back."

They were right. Of course they were. Hope. Klaus would kill Bella if anything happened to her. "Tell Freya to protect Hope or Hayley to take Hope and run," she said slightly calmer, a nod followed to reassure herself that she could do this. No pressure. Of course not. It was simply a matter of ignoring everything happening around her and do this. She could do this.

Where was Klaus?


	28. Love Bites

_Note to self: It's not surprising that the Cold Ones have their version of the white oak, it's just incredibly silly of them to have it wrapped into a fairy tale. One human to kill them all. It's too ridiculous for words._

 _Note to self: Remember, you were too intrigued by their silliness._

 _Note: Oh god, what if the stories are true and that one day there'll be another weapon of mass destruction for the Cold Ones? Remind me not to tell Elijah or Niklaus. I want to swoop in and be the hero when they get into trouble with them. Or laugh at them after another daggering and hearing the stories._

 _I traveled to Greece. Yes, the main area is in Italy, Volterra, but I believed that the Volturi forgot about most of their history. I met with an old witch, a traveler, who told me that everything in this book is true. And that there was more. While the witch wasn't particularly fond of vampires, she'd heard about my reputation with witches and knew of me being a member of the Original family. She gave me a prophecy that was told for generations, in the hope that one day, it'd come true. Scarily enough, it seems that it ties in with my family._

 _When fidelity gets born, the elements shall fall into place._

 _The first of hot ones will fall. Fidelity will turn and aid the officer._

 _Fidelity will find strength in the officer and will give strength to the officer and merriment._

 _Fidelity will set fire to the ice and will find its place among the first._

 _You see, this is interesting. I figured it out; we're the hot ones. Now, I don't like it that we will fall - or might fall because we can't fall. Not without a lot of trouble. And I like trouble. Nik likes trouble and don't get me started on Rebekah; she's trouble incarnate. I have no clue about fidelity, officer, and merriment. The witch showed me the corresponding tarot cards, but I'm torn. The officer could be either Nik or Elijah. It's usually Nik, though. Merriment? Well, I don't see Finn being merry, is that me? Rebekah?_

 _It is exciting to know, though, that we will be in the presence of someone as magnificent as Carmen the original singer, slaughterer of thousands of Cold Ones before the Volturi finally were able to kill her. Or turn her._

 _If we do come across a singer who's survived the presence of Cold Ones, we need to do everything in our power to protect him/her. Perhaps enlist Rebekah's help when it's a man. I hope it's a girl. I can't wait to woo so much power._

 _What I know for certain is that Nik has to be the one to turn it. Great. Another chance for him to be the big bully that he is, to showboat his power._

 _Best to keep this a secret, knowing Elijah he will worry about everything._

~o.O.o~

Once she had transcribed what Kol had written all those centuries ago, her mind went into overdrive. Granted, if this was truly about her, she was going to be kickass, and all she needed was Klaus. Taking into account the last part of the prophecy that was tied to the Mikaelsons in this current time, Klaus first had to lose it all before he could turn her.

She had to stay alive for that, until his return and his part of his prophecy had played out. After that, everything was going to be okay. More than okay, it would mean that she could finally take her revenge, and then some.

A huge burden had fallen off her shoulders, and she could feel how sleep overtook her mind and body, drifting off to a light sleep the moment she laid down.

When she eventually woke up, she could smell the freshly made bread that someone had gotten her. Coffee. Freshly squeezed orange juice. Was someone bribing her? Sitting up, she looked around to see Myriam sit in a lounge chair on the balcony drinking from a blood bag. Bella shuddered and got up to have something of her breakfast. She was hungry, not having taken the time to eat properly in the last two days other than junk and she needed to eat something proper. "Morning."

"Oh, good, you're awake. Klaus was worried that Freya had put too big of a spell on you."

"Klaus? Was he back? How long was I out for? Freya spelled me? The bitch!" She popped a piece of bread in her mouth. "Why didn't you wake me when Klaus came back?"

"They were busy anyway," Myriam said as she discarded her empty blood bag. "You didn't miss much, trust me."

"I don't care! I would have liked to see Klaus well with my own eyes! Where is he now?"

"Tristan took Freya, so he and Elijah are after him."

"Why the fuck is everyone taking everyone? Is that something you like to do for fun?" Bella said annoyed. "Oh, we have a disagreement with that person. Let's kidnap it, torture it, poke it with a stick and release it again. Have them escape!" She added mockingly. "Geez, what are you people? Small children?"

"Bella!" Myriam said shocked and watched as Peter turned the corner and halted immediately after seeing Bella's face. He wasn't going anywhere near her. Smart vampire.

"What? It's that easy, isn't it? You're more powerful; you can easily take your captors and kill them and get it over with."

The vampire didn't know what to say; she wasn't quite sure what Bella was getting at, that maybe Freya's sleep spell had somehow corrupted Bella a little. "It's not that easy in theory; I'm sure Klaus has explained that to you."

"Oh, he did," Bella nodded as she popped another piece of bread in her mouth and took a sip of the orange juice. "But you know what that sounds to me? Sentimentality. I mean… you know that on the one hand, this other person, vampire, whatever, is a part of your history. You have a history with them and despite them being a pain in the ass, you can't just get rid of them without getting rid of a part of your past. On the other hand, that person is a fucking pain in your ass. Rip them apart and get it over with. Jeez."

"Bella!"

"Don't you Bella me, Myriam!"

"Peter!" Myriam growled at the other vampire, who was grinning from ear to ear. "What did you do?!"

"Nothin'," Peter grinned, casually leaning against the doorpost with his arms crossed over his chest. "Right now, I'm admiring the lil' Spitfire, because she's right. Someone causes you trouble but killing them immediately is out of the question because of sentimental reasons?"

"I don't care about that, what's wrong with her?"

"Nothin'," he repeated with a shrug. "My best guess is that she's awakening, even without being supercharged as the prophecy foretells. She's a singer; she's always been a singer. It's been that instinct that has kept her alive for those years she was on the run from them and now that they're back in town, of course those qualities come back. Bella was known for her violent outbursts from time to time. She even punched a werewolf in the face, but regretted it after hurting her hand on him."

"Jake had it coming. I want to hit him again. I will. Eventually. Asshole." Bella said as she downed her coffee and went to grab a few clothes. "I'm going to take a shower, and you better call Klaus to tell him I'm awake, and he and I need to have a chat. I'm fucking tired of being shoved to the side and treated as if I'm fragile."

"You are, _cherie_ ," Myriam said as she watched her friend. "You're still human, and we all are merely trying to keep you alive."

Bella eyed Peter. "He tried to wake me, didn't he?" She had woken up with a metallic taste in her mouth, no doubt Klaus trying to have her take some of his blood in her slumber.

"And he warned them that you'd be upset if you'd wake without him by your side. Again," Peter agreed. "Take your shower; I'll go and try to find out how long your man will be."

~o.O.o~

Bella startled when she suddenly felt Klaus' hands on her back while she was in the shower. "Why not take a bath, love?" He said sweetly. She turned around to face him and took him in. Klaus was naked, dirty and hurt. His hair a mess and his eyes looked sad.

She put her arms around his waist and pulled him closer as she looked up at him with a small smile on her lips. "Rough couple of days, huh?"

"I feel quite guilty for taking a few moments to relax," he admitted truthfully, his lips brushing the top of her head. "We still need to give Camille a proper send-off, but I feel that if we get complacent just for one second… we'll lose everything."

She gently guided him to the bath tub; he even moved as if he was tired of it all. She helped him sit down and started to rinse off the dirt and blood out of his hair, off his body, lightly touching his spots with her fingertips, making circular motions to make him relax. "It's going to be alright," she cooed, reaching for the shampoo to start putting it in his hair.

"The witches dug up Jackson's heart," he said, his voice filled with hate. "They want to break the sire link."

"Can they do that?"

"With the right spell, the right ingredients… nothing is impossible. I certainly wouldn't put it passed Davina to…"

Was that worry in his voice? "But you don't get your power, your strength, from your sirelings, do you?"

"Not physical strength, no," a small smile danced across his lips as he enjoyed feeling her hands all over him. "However, they are obliged to me. For instance, should I want to pick a fight with your Cold Ones, my progeny will have to fight for me if they want a shot at surviving my fight. If I die, they die. Then there's of course those in high places that I've turned, those who aid us with for example legal documents. Should I want for something, all I need to do is ask."

Bella huffed as she massaged the shampoo into his hair. While she could see the benefit of knowing people in high places, did he actually have to turn them? "What's the worst thing that could happen should Davina manage to break your sireline?"

"Not everyone was happy about me turning them, even though I saved them from unsavory and unwanted situations. For example, there are countless of women I rescued from their abusive home or from their relatives who were ill."

"Not everyone wants to be saved," she gently rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. "I can understand that would tick people off."

"Others were happy; I'm not too worried about them."

"Others? Like Myriam?" She stopped doing what she did and moved to face him. "Just how many people did you turn, Klaus?"

"I'm a thousand years old, love," he said with a slight chuckle, a sparkle in his eye. "And I have to admit, that in the beginning, neither myself or my siblings were especially picky on who we turned. We found it easier to compel vampires we turned than to compel humans."

"Why is that?"

"Because humans are magnificent beings who should be protected at all cost."

"But vampires were humans before they turned."

"You're overcomplicating things, love," he softly kissed her. "As long as those vampires stay sired to myself, Elijah or Rebekah, they'll feel obligated to protect us, because even though they might be angry with us for turning them, now that they have the eternal life, they'd want to keep it that way."

"So if your line gets broken?"

"There's no doubt that every enemy that I've acquired over the last thousand years will come out of the woodwork and will want to kill me. They'd kill me and live on as if nothing happened."

"Well, that's not going to happen," she said, shifting again to continue cleaning him up. "If someone's going to kill you, it'll be me."

Klaus let out a chuckle. "Are you keeping the trinket safe?"

"Of course."

"Good," he mused. "Now all we can hope for is that we'll find the new White Oak tree before our enemies do."

She was glad that he sounded more like himself now, less afraid, more confident in surviving this ordeal. "New?"

He pulled her into the water with him and held her tightly with one arm before running his fingers through her hair with his free hand. "The spell my mother used to create us upset the balance of Nature. Magic, no matter what kind of magic, is always looking for balance, just like nature. For example; you're from a long line of Travelers. When Silas and Amara drank the elixir of immortality, Nature rose against them and created shadow selves of them, doppelgangers, to die instead of the original templates. Or, in our case, mother's spell upset the laws of nature, that all things must die. She drew upon several things in existence to create us. The sun - which will burn us without the daylight rings that we wear, not kill us, but it would kill a non-original vampire."

"Beats turning into a walking disco ball."

"True," he smirked. "She also drew upon the power of the White Oak Tree. Now, that's the only thing that could kill an Original. We can burn it down, but another will sprout in a protected area to ensure that the balance can be preserved."

"So if your enemies would find it…"

"We'll all be dead by the end of the day."

"Okay, that sucks."

Klaus hummed in agreement. It was silly, perhaps, but he knew that Bella knew most of the information he had just given her; she'd been living with Myriam for nearly three years, of course she would have picked up something, however, talking it all through with her gave him some perspective. Truth be told, either way, he would be royally screwed. However, with so many vampires obliged to protect him, to fight for him, there would be a chance he could survive.

He wasn't going to die. Hope deserved two parents who loved her very much so, and he wanted to spend the rest of eternity with Bella; if she wanted to do the same. "Now, a little birdie told me you've gone and done something I don't agree with…"

"Oh, yes," she said with a grin, closing her eyes as Klaus' hands started to roam her body. "But at least I got results?"

"That you did. Tell me, how was my brother?"

"Tasty."

"Bella."

"What?" she responded impishly. "He was a little rough around the edges, but I think he wishes to be here with us if only to witness the demise of so many Cold Ones. He also truly believes in Davina, that she can bring him back."

"I have no doubt, either," Klaus responded as he took the soap and started to soap up Bella's body. "The little witch is a force to be reckoned with, and it's best to keep her at arms length in case she does something that irreparable. With her affiliation with the Strix coven, I'm quite…" It was a good thing to take a little moment away from everything that was going on in his life, in their lives, in the life he shared with Bella. She always managed to calm him, to center him. To… "Bella," he felt guilty all of a sudden; he realized he'd never told her how extraordinary she was. Any other woman would have simply packed up her things and left him when faced with the way he was handling things. The unintended lack attention. The threat of losing everything. And yet, she was here. She was still here. And, perhaps because he felt that the end was close, he needed to tell her that. "Do you have any idea how extraordinary you are? How wonderful? Understanding?"

"Klaus…"

"I feel the need to apologize for the mess that we're in."

"What mess?"

"Bella…" he sighed as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Would you please just let me-"

"No," she said as she turned around to face him and kissed him tenderly. "Because nothing's going to happen and whatever will happen, we can fix it. You just do you. Do what you feel is necessary and I'll still be here. But you will live through all of this. You're Klaus fucking Mikaelson, and you're going to fuck me. Right now."

~o.O.o~

It was nice to wake up next to Klaus again, although it appeared that he hadn't had any sleep that night, and he looked annoyed. "Morning?" she said as she rolled back into him and put her legs around him. He was going to leave again; she could feel it.

"The wolves have found Tristan," he muttered, running his hand through her hair. "We're going to deal with him today, and hope they'll find Lucien as well."

"I didn't know Lucien was missing," she propped her head up on her hand and looked at him. "But you know, I'm starting to think that he's not on our side, either. Haven't seen him around much after Thanksgiving, for someone so hellbent on protecting his sire…"

"I know, love."

"You have to kill him."

"What?"

She smirked as she crawled on top of him and used her weight to keep him down - not that it would make any difference if he wanted her off of him. "Myriam said the same thing. You're all sentimentalists," Bella softly kissed him. "Old friend or not, he's annoying and probably up to something. He needs to die."

"It's not that simple," he then looked at her, curiosity sparked. "Surely you're not going to kill all Cold Ones when you're able to."

"Why not?" Bella shrugged. "If I kill them, they won't be able to hurt anyone else. They're a pest. A blight that needs to be burned. If I'm truly going to be able to kill them, I will."

"What about Peter? You like him, don't you?"

"He's a means to an end. He knows that."

He was surprised to hear that, and for a moment feared that his Bella, his sweet, kind and loyal Bella, would turn into a monster when turned. They wouldn't be able to stop her if she'd become a ripper as she was unable to be compelled. "What about the non-Cold One afflicted?"

"Those are your problem, mister," she playfully smacked him on his chest. "But seeing as it takes a lot of strength to take on one Cold One, perhaps I could lend my strength to you when you're in a bind."

Klaus let out a snort and then lifted her off of him as he kissed her. "I have to go. We have an old friend to catch and Elijah's been hissing my name from behind our door for the last 30 minutes."

"Hi, Elijah!" Bella called to him as she wrapped herself back into the blankets before watching Klaus get dressed. "I could stay in bed all day… naked… ready and waiting for you when you come back…"

"As much as I'd love that idea," Klaus smiled at her. "There's no need, just stay safe. Don't leave the compound; Freya's told me that there are more Cold Ones about."

Bella pouted. "There's no chance of you taking me with you?"

"We have no idea what we'll be walking into, and I'm sorry, love, but you're a very fragile human being and quite precious to me," he replied and kissed her once he was dressed. "I promise I'll return to you."

"You'd better or I'll find you, revive you and kill you myself," she commanded before she hit him over the head with a pillow. "Go. Get them."


	29. The Season Of Change

Klaus had been gone for hours. For hours and Bella watched the sky turn dark from the balcony overlooking the courtyard. Calmly, but still she felt on edge. Freya kept an eye on the increasing numbers of Cold Ones arriving in New Orleans, but Bella could feel it. It was hard to describe it, it was something she had felt in the presence of the Cullens, maybe a couple of times, but now that she was older, and apparently her Singer side more advanced, she could feel a coldness starting to cover the French Quarter almost as if it was a blanket. Or a fog rolling in.

It was interesting that, on the other hand, she'd never thought it was actually real, that a long living singer could turn into a massive Cold One killing machine. And that she actually had a 'spidey sense'. It was interesting how she could feel it adjust, how it tried to teach her how it worked. She ignored most of it at the moment, wondering where the hell Klaus was, but she didn't have to wait long for an answer.

After getting something to eat from the kitchen and resuming her position on the balcony, she overheard Marcel and Hayley argue and saw Lucien - Lucien - help himself to the Mikaelson family blood bag stash. It appeared that Hayley had found Lucien and thought it would be good to bring him 'home.' Like a dog finding a stick to play with.

"I had no idea that Aya was gonna take Klaus and Elijah down! And regardless, why the hell are we trusting this guy all of a sudden, huh? He's the one who ran off with Aurora the first chance he got."

So Klaus was taken. Bella was going to do something about that; she just had to stay quiet and bide her time, come up with a plan. One good thing about being ignored or left out of conversations about things was that you could listen carefully and, when needed, when capable, save the day.

She'd been avoiding everyone most of the day - or they'd been avoiding her, no doubt having heard Myriam talk to someone about Bella's 'ridiculous' stance on killing things. She didn't particularly care for Marcel, but she had to agree with him at this point and firmly disagree with Hayley. Yes, Marcel had dug up Jackson's heart for the Strix, but by doing that, he'd saved Hayley's life. Hope's mother. The mother of his sire's child. Bella would have done the same. Besides, Jackson was already dead anyway, would Hayley rather leave her child motherless?

She didn't like hearing that Davina was truly going ahead with desiring Klaus and Elijah, but when Lucien spoke of an execution, she was wondering how that would work seeing as she was still in possession of the last of the White Oak… She put her hand in her pocket to confirm that the trinket was there and let out a breath of relief. "How would it be an execution? It's a desiring spell, they're still Original vampires," Bella asked from her spot above them. "And I know of the location of the weapon that could kill them, so it can't be that."

"Are you sure, love?" Lucien slurred his words; she could have sworn she saw some panic in his eyes. "They're quite confident about being able to kill them. Of course, they'll try to kill Nik first, because they don't want to accidentally eradicate themselves."

"I'm sure, so try again, Lucien."

"Or ask your know-it-all Cold One that you keep in the basement."

"I don't keep anything in the cellar. If he's there, he's there without my knowledge," she said as she made her way down the stairs, carrying her glass of iced tea. "However, if you don't stop lying, I'll ask him to remove your heart, I'm fairly certain he'd love to do that."

Lucien snorted as he shifted a little in his seat. "What makes you think I'm lying?" What had happened to Niklaus' meek whore? This wasn't even Isa, Bella's alter-ego, no, this was a Queen talking. A huntress. Did Niklaus have any idea what he was getting himself into with her? Oh, who cared? With a little luck, his sire would be dead by the rise of the sun. And if not, by the end of this week at the latest.

"There'll be no killing," Freya's voice sounded before appearing from underneath the stairs. "I'm going to need Lucien to get Klaus and Elijah out of the chambre that they're in. The older the vampire, the better the battery, sort to speak. So, while I do that, you can go and stage a rescue."

"You can't be serious," Lucien huffed, grateful for Freya's interruption, he didn't have to defend himself, talk himself into a corner he couldn't get out of. Bella was perceptive, and he believed he had fooled them long enough. Well, her and Marcel at least. The others still seemed to believe him.

"I think I can find a few wolves ready to help us out to buy you time, Freya," Hayley said as she rose to her feet and looked at Marcel. "What about some of your vampires? Or are they too scared?"

"I can't order the Strix vamps to attack their coven of witches," Marcel said, rolling his eyes. "Josh, maybe, but Davina will skin me alive if something happens to him."

"I think I can ask Myriam for the A squad, especially now Alina's turned…" Bella said a little absentmindedly. Her brain was working on something, but she wasn't sure what yet.

"Stay out of this, Bella, this isn't your fight," Marcel bit at her.

"Screw you, Marcel," Bella said fiercely, wanting to throw her glass of iced tea against him but decided against it. "I know I can help, and I can get some sturdy vampires to the estate as well. All Freya needs to do is make me invisible for the Strix, and I can get in. Then I'm sure some Cold Ones will follow me. I'm the perfect bait. Still human. Still tasty and something they want for themselves."

"Oh hell no."

"Actually," Hayley smirked. "I like that idea."

"As much as I hate to admit it, me too," Freya agreed and sighed. "My brother is going to kill me when he comes back but yes. I'll cloak you for the Strix. Save Niklaus and Elijah; I know you can do it."

Bella smirked and nodded. "Good. Now let me put on my sneakers and we'll go."

~o.O.o~

She was surprised it had been that easy to get involved. Not that she'd have given up anyway. Bella knew almost every exit point of the compound; take the sewer if she had to; it wasn't anything new, she'd done a lot of sewer living when she was still running from the Cullens. But she was glad that the only person who objected was Marcel. Of course, he had to; Klaus was his sire and Bella was Klaus'... something.

Bella quickly made her way to Débauche, making sure she was seen out in the open, her scent in the air, and got in the car with most of the A Squad, who were managed to get into the trunk of the big town car Marcel was driving with the three of them. It was unbelievable how bendy they were. Unfortunately, Alina didn't have an easy transition; mostly because Peter had also bitten her and infected her with the Cold One venom, not having known that she'd already been ingesting Myriam's blood. One of the warlocks was doing all that he could to save her from turning into a Cold One and a possible target for Bella. This was a good thing because Bella really did not want to kill her friend.

Sometimes, Peter was quite the dumbass for someone with the knowledge that he had. Bella was glad he wasn't coming with; it was mostly to save his own skin and all, but she wouldn't want him to think he needed to protect her. The Strix vampires and witches couldn't see her. Not even Davina, but she could choose to reveal herself to Davina, and she'd make sure she'd be safe. Hopefully. Probably not seeing as Davina discovered that Bella had been lying and all.

She didn't know what to make of the newest addition to the A Squad, Abeebee. She commanded a lot of respect with her presence alone. She was very intense, but Ace and Autumn seemed to like her.

When they were almost at the Davilla Estate, Bella made the deliberate decision to go inside. She tried to make her thoughts as loud as possible so that Alice, too, would see her. Once Marcel parked in front, Bella made the deliberate decision to step out of the car and follow him in. She focused on her decisions, making her a beacon to everything and once she had snuck into the pool house, she stopped.

Not because she felt them coming but because of the sight in front of her and it made her stomach churn. Klaus and Elijah were in a pool, throats slit, blood oozing out of the cut and they weren't moving. The witches were chanting, and Davina seemed to be the most intense. Of course, she was hell bent on destroying Klaus. She had told Bella that she had tried to sever the link last year, to save Marcel and Josh when she killed Klaus. Something told Bella that Davina wasn't going to give up that easily.

Swallowing back some bile, Bella knew that she couldn't intervene. She was invisible now; she needed to stay hidden and have the Cold Ones come and fuck shit up. And then, hopefully, Klaus and Elijah would be saved in time. She made it to the farthest corner of the building and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. She could hear crashing and ripping coming from the hallway, and she knew then, that for the last seven years, they had been intensely looking for her. The speed and ferocity they were showing now said as much. Agitation. Aggression. Desperation. Bella needed to become what she needed to become and kill them. There was no hesitation; it was almost like a frenzy they were in as they tore through the hallway and turned the corner.

Bella gasped when she got spotted by Garrett, Kate Denali's mate. A big grin appeared on his face, and he started to run to her, but a legion of Strix vampires under Aya's command flocked in and blocked his path. Bella had never seen so many vampires in one place. Five Cold Ones were fighting at least forty Strix vampires, if not more, as the Strix tried to keep them from getting to the witches.

It was satisfying to see the Cold Ones being torn to shreds and quite a few Strix vampires fell too, but Bella was glad to see the Denali's torn to pieces on the floor by the time that Elijah awoke from his torment and dragged one of the witches into the pool to feed. Bella fumbled the lighter in her pocket, would she dare to make it across the room to set the Cold Ones alight? She didn't want to give them time to reassemble.

Hayley and Marcel got to their feet after being flung to the side by Davina and Bella watched Ace throw a flare into the Cold One pile, setting them ablaze as the other witches were killed. Elijah got out of the water, but when Klaus tried, Davina threw him right back in, including bowling over anyone who was not behind something. "You've had your time!" Davina snarled before she continued to chant.

Klaus started to scream in agony. Bella could feel the sound penetrate her skin, deep into her bones, sending waves of pain into her own body. Was this what they called sympathy pains? She wanted to get into the water, pull Klaus out of it and have him kill Davina, but it was likely that the witch would kill her first. Marcel doubled over in pain, but all Bella could do was focus on Klaus, willing Elijah to do something.

Soon enough, Davina finished her spell, once again knocking everyone flat on their asses, and Bella scampered out of her hiding spot and jumped into the water to keep Klaus afloat. He looked unconscious, his veins evident and he just looked so dead. "No," she whimpered as she used all of her strength to keep him from sinking into the pool. "No, Klaus…" His throat was slashed, it was healing, but there was still blood, and she didn't even want to imagine what she'd do if he truly were dead.

"Allow me," Elijah crooned as he helped Bella to keep his brother afloat. He wasn't sure why she was here, who allowed her to be here. He didn't even want to think about that right now. He had watched his brother in worry before the veins retracted and his brother started to look a little less dead. Klaus' eyes opened then, looking for Elijah's and Elijah let out a breath of relief.

"I felt them leave," Klaus said weakly. "My sireline is broken." He then looked at Bella. "What are you doing here?"

She gave him a small smile. "Luring Cold Ones here, causing a distraction," Bella replied with a shrug and helped him to get on his feet. "Here," she said, holding up her wrist. "Drink."

"Bella…"

"Drink, Niklaus," Elijah commanded him. "Hayley and I shall take care of things here, but you need to take Bella home. Get some rest."

~o.O.o~

Klaus practically fell out of the car when they arrived at the compound, and she was grateful to Myriam being there to help her get him inside. It was a good thing that Myriam had her hands full with supporting the hybrid because Bella just knew that her friend wanted to shake her and check her over to see if she was alright before giving her a verbal punishment. "What were you thinking?"

Bella sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "That was some good thinking, Bella, luring the Cold Ones to the Strix to get them killed and cause a distraction," she retorted, mimicking Myriam's voice. "I was perfectly safe; the Strix couldn't see me."

Myriam noticed the marks on Bella's wrist and nearly dropped Klaus as he tripped. "You bit her!"

"Relax, mother hen," Klaus complained. "She offered, and I had to get on my feet somehow. What the bloody hell is wrong with me?"

"You hemorrhaged an enormous amount of mystical energy," Freya replied as she was followed by Lucien. "Enough to create a Nexus Vorti. It's nothing a good night's rest won't cure."

"I'm glad they didn't kill you, Niklaus," Lucien quipped as Myriam put Klaus down on the sofa and used her own blood to heal Bella's bite marks. "Will you now believe me that -"

Bella winced when she heard the sound of breaking bones and tissue being punched through and then watched as Lucien dropped to the floor, revealing Peter standing where Klaus' sireling stood before, with a heart in his hand. A deafening silence followed, and Peter merely shrugged. "Trust me. You didn't have it in you to kill him, and this will save you a lot of headache in the coming time," Peter explained before he broke out in a wide grin and looked at Bella. "And you! Good job!"

Klaus used every inch of strength he had left in his body to get up and throw the Cold One into a wall. He had just killed history. A long life lived, a vampire who made history. Granted, Lucien was a giant pain in the neck, but he had accomplished so much, and Klaus had been proud of him.

"Relax, it's not as if his siblings died, you don't have a sire line anymore, remember?"

"Even so," Klaus scowled. "He was my friend. Please, tell me what atrocities he was going to do in the near future."

"Create the beast of your prophecy, create the situation where the friend, family, and foe would end you all. Yep, I single-handedly took care of your prophecy. You're welcome."

"Out," he said with a growl. Lucien was a bastard and a brilliant one at that, one who created the antidote against a werewolf bite, but to create the beast? To be the end of his family? No, Lucien wouldn't do that. He was loyal. And after a very trying day, he now had lost an old friend. "And for your sake, I hope that you'll leave New Orleans because once I'm back on my feet…"

"You'll turn into a whiny brat because all your enemies will come for you now," Peter winked at him and then saluted. "Very well. I shall make my leave. Good luck with the rest of the prophecy."

Bella watched as Peter sped out of the compound and then threw a pillow towards Klaus. "Go to bed or have a Snickers."

"Take him upstairs, Bella, I'll take care of what's left of Lucien," Myriam said kindly before Bella dragged Klaus off to take a relaxing bath first, clean him up, and then take him to bed.

~o.O.o~

"I didn't get the chance to say this yesterday," Klaus said the following morning as he brushed some hair out of Bella's face. "But what were you thinking? I could have lost you, too."

"I knew what I was doing," she softly kissed his lips. "How are you feeling today? Better?"

"Please tell me you're still in the possession of the trinket I gave you," he replied once he knew she was fully awake. Yes, he had slept, but the moment he felt better he had woken up and hadn't been able to stop thinking about who was going to come after him now. "It's made out of White Oak and-"

"Hey," she rolled on top of him and kissed him tenderly. "You're safe. It's safe. Do you honestly believe I'll let anything happen to you?"

"You're a mere mortal, Bella, what could you possibly do to ensure my safety?"

She knew this was going to happen. He'd told her that he had felt secure with all the vampires he had sired because their lives depended on his. That despite their anger towards him that they were still happy with their immortality. Now that that link was gone, they could come after him for vengeance. But to have it happen as soon as this? "This mere mortal would do anything to keep you safe, Klaus Mikaelson, because she loves you. Now stop your moping. Save that for your siblings."

His eyes met hers and he swallowed hard; she had this determined look on her face, and he couldn't do anything but to nod slowly. "Now, about that Cold One friend of yours."

"He hasn't been wrong yet."

"Perhaps, but between Myriam killing Aurora for your safety and Peter killing Lucien for all of our sakes - if we have to believe him, that only leaves Tristan with a solid link to our past."

"And he's an asshole too, so he'll be dead soon."

"Bella…"

"I'm not going to say it again, but your sentimentality is your weakness. You made a name for yourself as a ruthless vampire, taking what you wanted, no matter the consequences. It's fine that you're more in touch with your feelings in your personal, private, life, but damn it, Klaus, act weak, and your enemies think you're weak too. Act weak for long enough and you'll actually become weak."

"Says the little girl who's been running from an army of Cold Ones for years and falls into depression now and then. Who doesn't recognize danger even if it's being waved in her face!" He pushed her off of him and got out of bed to get dressed. "You have no right to lecture me on this, Bella."

"I am not lecturing you, Klaus," she said as she sat up and watched him. "I know how you feel right now."

"Oh, do you? You have no idea!"

"As if the world's been pulled away from underneath you, as if you're alone. It's okay to be scared, Klaus, but you have to remember that you're not alone. You've got Elijah. Rebekah. Hayley and Hope, they're still here, and they won't go anywhere," she said calmly. "So what you've lost your entire sire line? You're still the same old scary hybrid everyone thinks is a monster. No doubt your enemies will come as groups, knowing that they can't take you on alone. That's how afraid they are of you. You're still you."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Klaus said forcefully. "I'm going to Aya's home with Elijah and look for answers. This whole thing about killing me drives me to believe that she has some White Oak somewhere."

Bella let out a frustrated sigh as she fell back onto the bed. "You need to talk to a therapist or something."

"She's dead!"

"Then organize her fucking wake, you asshole!"

* * *

A/N: I'm going to work on finishing Beautiful Soul this month as I'll be participating in Camp Nanowrimo next month with a completely new story. So for the next 8 weeks, you'll be getting one chapter a week from Beautiful Soul. Two, if I wrote more than I agreed with myself to (which will likely be the case but yeah).

Find me on Facebook (buggy fiction) for updates or a chat or whatever :-)

Xxx Buggy


	30. The End Of The Toddler Tantrum

Bella didn't see much of Klaus the next few days as he was moving heaven and hell to make sure that the Strix didn't have anything in their possession that could kill him. Even went as far as destroying everything that Aurora had done, going through her things and avoiding Tristan as he went.

A part of her wanted to leave the compound, avoid Klaus, but she knew that if she'd set one foot out of the compound that she'd be scooped up by a Cold One. The air in New Orleans felt riddled with them, and it was still strange that she just knew it. She didn't have any idea where they were, just that they were close. She couldn't get warm either when she was sitting on the balcony; front or back, it was even worse.

She also didn't want to leave the compound, because that meant leaving him, and that was something she wouldn't do unless he'd tell her to leave. And despite his paranoia, he still hadn't done so.

Instead, she had found another book on the Cold Ones and their lore in Elijah's library which he generously had shared with her, knowing that Bella loved history and that she wanted to kill some time. The book wasn't a treasure trove like Kol's book had been, but it made her understand her current feelings.

The Cold Ones were quite scared of singers, despite their attraction to them; it started with one vampire, but the longer the singer lived, the more vampires liked the scent of the singer's blood; causing the vampires to fight amongst themselves, often to the death, until there was one winner.

While singers were generally women, they had encountered a male one once or twice when a family wasn't blessed with girls as children. There was one story where a coven of female vampires fought for the attentions of their male singer; ending up killing him in the melee.

It was a given that singers were created by the Travelers to end the Cold Ones, to hunt them down and rid the world of the plague and this book had several eyewitness accounts of the first supercharged singer called Carmen, with a note that all singers worked differently. Carmen's voice was her weapon - coming from her career and passion for singing. Bella thought it would be interesting to figure out what she'd be, seeing as she loved history and books. Was she going to pelt the Cold Ones to death with books? Bore them to death?

Granted, she had to give herself a pat on the back for her quick thinking to lure the Denali's to the Strix' lair and have those vampires kill them off. It had been smart. Intelligent. However, seeing as she didn't want other vampires to fight her battles for her, she would have to think of other things. Maybe Elijah had books on how to make a bomb? She could lure the Cold Ones to an empty space and blow them to smithereens.

It didn't sound too exciting. Maybe, once Klaus would turn her, her teeth would be able to cut through marble and steel so she could take a bite out of Edward and his family. Which meant she'd have to come close. While she had learned some self-defense, she wasn't quite sure if it'd measure up to what she needed to be. It wasn't as if becoming a vampire would bless her with ninja fighting skills, would it?

She should turn, but she wanted Klaus to turn her because they'd been talking about it for so long and she now felt that she was ready. Willing to do her part, because despite Klaus' anger the morning after he lost his sire line, he was right. She was a mere mortal, and if she was going to hang around longer, she needed to become sturdy like a vampire. Less easy to kill. Like a vampire.

She loved Klaus, she actually loved him, and knowing what happened to most of his exes, she wanted to make sure he wasn't going to be left alone because she died. If he still wanted her. Best thing, for now, was to keep her distance and let him rage. Elijah and Freya were keeping an eye on him, and she was there for him when he needed her.

Bella was grateful that Klaus stopped for a moment to participate in Cami's wake. It was beautiful, and alcohol flowed nicely - at least that was what she was told; she didn't want to risk a Cold One attack to rain down upon the wake. On top of that, Bella didn't know Cami that well, only through the stories Klaus told her about her and through the brief interaction she had with her.

She was sitting in the study now and nearly got herself, and her chair, knocked over by Klaus, who stormed in, half drunk. "Where have you been?"

"Out. Drinking. Rousseau's," he muttered. "Pretending to talk to a ghost." He looked at his siblings who joined Klaus in the study. He looked lost. Sad. Scared. "It was him. It was Gaspar Cortez." He said knowingly, affirming his suspicions that people were coming after him now.

Freya sighed as she looked away from her brother. "I assume this is someone from your box of letters?" She sounded as if she didn't want to believe him. Bella knew that even the older sibling was fed up with Klaus' antics, but for the sake of family, they were entertaining his fear.

"The youngest son of a particularly vile family of warlords I dealt with in the 17th century," Klaus said dismissively.

Elijah frowned. "Didn't they burn that philistine pigsty into the ground?"

A smile appeared on Bella's lips when Klaus scoffed. This was turning into a typical sibling conversation, wasn't it? One filled with memories. Sure, brought on by someone who was going to try to kill Klaus, but still. She loved stories like these. Because it was history, and Klaus and his siblings had lived it.

"Pigsty?" Klaus was appalled. His siblings never had any taste. "Belaga was my favorite artist retreat! Someone had to pay for that, so I murdered Gaspar's brute of a father." Oh, he saw Elijah sigh, yes, his brother never appreciated the finer things in life.

"And?" Freya coached him.

"And one or two-"

"Five," Elijah interrupted him, annoyance evident in his voice.

"Five of his bloodthirsty brothers."

"Don't forget the mistress," Elijah reminded his brother, a playful note in his voice.

"Ah!" The hybrid took offense to that. "That was an accident!"

Elijah rolled his eyes and looked at his sister to explain. "The point is that Gaspar was but a footnote."

"Until he became a vampire, hell-bent on hunting me," Klaus added.

"I still don't understand why you're so scared, Klaus. You can easily take him on," Bella said from her position behind the desk. "I know you told me about the possibilities of a new White Oak somewhere, but do you honestly believe he'd have tracked it down if he was just a footnote to you?"

"He's a cunning deviant, known to compel hoards of the helpless to aid him with his tasks," Klaus started. "You see, this is exactly what I was concerned about. Devils of all kinds, crawling out of their crevices to strike at me," he paused then, straining his hearing and heard some intelligent muttering and footsteps that he recognized all too well. "Speaking of which…"

Bella blinked and watched Klaus rush out of the study. Exchanging a look with Elijah and Freya, they all went after him to see what was going on. Much to all of their surprises, Klaus was stunned, looking at someone. Kol. "Now, Nik, you did go after my girl," Kol spoke as he approached his brother.

"It can't be…" Klaus said stunned as he took a few steps towards Kol.

She stayed near the door; she already felt as if she was intruding on a private family matter, which was ridiculous. She was a part of the family, wasn't she? Why else had everyone been so concerned with her safety? Out of fear for Klaus? Were his siblings even still afraid of Klaus now that his sire line was lost? Was this going to affect her in any way?

Davina stepped forward, afraid that something would happen to Kol. "It's Kol. When I broke your sire link, it created a surge of power."

Freya was disgusted as she fell in line next to Klaus. "You stole the Nexus Vorti," she said coldly. Bella added the words 'You bitch' silently in her head.

Bella couldn't help but feel proud of Davina. She had actually managed to bring Kol back from the dead. Something Klaus had thought possible but thought Davina wouldn't do. Or at least die trying. She thought that Freya and Klaus could be a little more grateful towards Davina, and apparently, Davina thought the same.

Davina rolled her eyes at the siblings. "And brought your brother back from the dead!"

Bella wasn't sure if Kol was pretending to love Davina still, or that he was just with her out of loyalty, as a thank you for bringing him back, but he once again came to her defense. Telling his siblings that they should be thanking her. She watched Klaus hug his brother and then decided that she was, indeed, intruding on something and quietly backed towards the open door. It didn't take long for Bella to realize that Klaus wanted to be alone with his family to discuss things as she could hear him tell Davina to get the hell out.

This was ridiculous. She was hiding again. Again. She had made so much progress and yet, not so much. But it wasn't up to her if she was going to be included in family business, it was Klaus'. She was going to hear all about this when they were in bed anyway. Or maybe not. It depended on whether or not Klaus was in a sharing mood.

He sent Peter, a Cold One, away. Was he going to send her, an almost Cold One hunter, away too? Nah. He wouldn't, would he?

"Nik, you don't have to worry about your bloody prophecy anymore, didn't the Cold One take care of that for you?" Kol's voice sounded annoyed. "Peter's a decent Cold One, you know. He knows his stuff."

"Fine then-"

"No, brother," Kol smirked as he walked into his brother's bedroom, finding the human girl sitting cross-legged on the bed with a big book in her lap. "You're still human?" He looked at his brother. "Why is she still human and not turned into the Cold One hunter?" Kol skipped his way to the bed and sat down next to Bella with a big, goofy grin on his face. "You do smell delicious, want me to turn you instead?"

"Aw, and here I thought you were going to behave yourself for Davina," Bella countered playfully. "Good to see you not covered in bruises, Kol."

"Oh, that's right, I forgot you two had already met and forged a bond of some sort," Klaus huffed, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You know," Kol said as he kept his eyes on Bella. "You'd think that for someone who's afraid of the big bad prophecy that he'd take it more into account. What was it… hmm… something about losing everything but siring the Singer would make him more powerful?"

"Oh, is that what it meant?"

"Of course, darling. He's the audience, you're the performer," Kol smirked. "Although… I assume you've read my notes by now and told Nik about the prophecy about you."

"I have," she said with a slow nod. "But to be honest, I have no idea what it means."

"It's not important, Kol. She can wait a little longer while we sort out our more immediate problems," Klaus said a little patronizing.

"What about her immediate problems, brother? New Orleans is crawling with Cold Ones at the moment, and while the witches and some of the vampires are trying to fight them, Bella can end them in one fell sweep. Doesn't she deserve to feel safe? Don't you want to be reassured of your strength?"

"Kol, I lost my entire sire line, they're coming for me."

"Exactly, Nik, and you're going to need all the help you can get. Turn her already or I will, and it's likely I will get the strength she'll add on because like yourself, I've lost everything. In fact, I've died so many times now that I've earned it to turn her and become stronger than you."

"You will do no such thing!" Klaus growled, pointing at his brother. "She's mine!"

"Is she? When's the last time you've fed her your blood?"

Bella quickly made her way off the bed as Klaus lunged at his brother and they fought on the bed. What was going on? Was Kol deliberately provoking his brother into turning her or was he serious? If she had to believe the notes, he was probably serious, but this was ridiculous.

"Enough!" Elijah's voice sounded angrily from the door. "Are you two quite done?"

"Oh, look, daddy's home from the quick errand he had to run," Kol quipped, earning him another punch to the face from Klaus before Elijah pulled the two of them apart.

"As much as it pains for me to say this, Niklaus, but Kol is right. We've allowed you to be selfish for too long; it's time you concern yourself with others. Especially with your neglected girlfriend, who, if I may add, has been nothing but flexible and accommodating to you." Bella opened her mouth to say that it was all right, but Elijah held up his hand for her to stop talking. "It's not alright, Bella. Freya and I have watched you tread ever so lightly, but enough is enough. It's time that Niklaus helps you with your problem. It is more immediate seeing as they're about to overrun the city, and I don't see Niklaus go after them to take care of them for you in his current state."

"I would!" Klaus huffed.

"You've busied yourself by chasing after possible splinters of White Oak, brother, fuelling your own paranoia while you have nothing to be afraid of, it's time to end your pity party and turn her."

"Fine," Klaus sped over to Bella, bit his hand for her to drink from and forced it upon her before sinking his teeth into her neck and draining her dry. He was angry; his siblings were bullying him, and he was just going to take care of this to satisfy them before he'd resume tracking Gaspar and killing him. Maybe have Freya find a way to track his enemies so he can surprise them and take them down first.

He had taken her by surprise; she had struggled, but only briefly. Once her heart stopped, he lifted her limp body into his arms and gently placed her upon the bed. "Now, back to the order of the day. Cortez."

"You're such a brute, Nik," Kol scowled as he checked her over. "She's meant to be giving you power and turn into something powerful herself, and you treat her like dirt. She's your girlfriend."

"Who understands that I-"

Freya sighed deeply and flicked her wrist, snapping Klaus' neck and dropping his body to the floor. "I am sorry," she said coldly. "But he needs a timeout."

Elijah let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you, Freya. Is she comfortable, Kol?"

"Yes," he replied as he tucked her in. "She's going to be extremely ticked off when she wakes."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Freya said with a shrug. "We'll have to track Cortez and take care of him for Klaus."

Kol huffed. "Who was he again?"

"Gaspar Cortez' family decimated Belaga," Elijah explained with a playful smile on his face, knowing what was coming next, Kol had had an even bigger distaste to the place than he did.

"Ugh, Belaga! That place was hideous!"

"Oh yes, and I can hear Klaus already scold us for having no taste," he agreed.

"Nik had a way of saving letters, does he still have them?" Kol asked carefully, lifting his brother's limp body and placed him on the end of the bed. "Because if he does, I could teach you a spell to actively track his enemies."

"Yes, he was looking at them earlier," Elijah said, following his siblings out of the room. "They're in the study."

~o.O.o~

When Klaus was awake, he wasn't happy at all. How dare Freya snap his neck? Yes, he may have lashed out a little bit, and he may not have given Bella an easy and painless death, but he had his reasons. In the case of Bella, he was angry; he was sure she'd forgive him. "What am I looking at?" He asked, looking at a map with blobs of blood everywhere, but New Orleans was clean.

"Your greatest hits," Elijah remarked. "As you can see, we've taken care of Cortez while you were taking your nap, but Kol and Freya have created this map."

Some dots were moving towards New Orleans, and it was troubling. "I have to apologize for my behavior, it was-"

"You. And you're forgiven, Niklaus," Elijah replied calmly, clapping his brother on the back. "So this may only be a fraction of our potential enemies."

Kol chuckled and shook his head. "In hindsight, we could've been nicer to people. Or at least left fewer survivors."

Ignoring his brother, Klaus turned to his other sibling. "We don't know all their motivations. Half of these people could want to put the bullet in your heart! End the sire war with the pull of a trigger."

"I have an army devoted to keeping me alive. The only people that care to protect you are standing in this very room," Elijah said seriously. "And in your bedroom and your beloved club," he paused then, almost as if he was weighing the gravity of his next sentence. "As you well know, Niklaus, there is another way."

The other way was undesirable. It meant he'd have to run and disappear. Something he was good at. Something his entire family was good at, but mainly him. Going away would be easy. Especially to save his own skin. He wouldn't go alone, either. Elijah had told him about Hayley's revenge of killing the Strix vampires involved with Jackson's death, and if he'd run, he'd have to take her and Hope with him. Hope was half his, something his enemies could use against him. They didn't know about Bella, so she'd be safe at the compound, but he had to run. To disappear.

"You're going to run?" Freya said incredulously. The mighty Klaus Mikaelson, running away?

Klaus chuckled. "There was a time when the name Klaus Mikaelson was little more than a rumor. A shadowy figure who cast fear into the very bones of any who heard whisper of him. I don't run, sister. I disappear. And tonight, the three of you are going to make that possible."


	31. What the hell

She hadn't dreamed it, had she? Without warning, Klaus had killed her. Squeezed her like a Capri-Sun packet and drained her dry. It had been nothing like she'd imagined; when she had hoped as a teenager with Edward on romantically biting her and turning her, she'd lost that idea, but she had believed that Klaus would at least talk to her first.

Granted, they had talked about her turning quite a few times, but this sucked. Pun intended. Her mouth felt dry like cotton, she felt icky and a little bit weak, as if she was recovering from the flu or something. Making her way out of bed towards the bathroom, she decided to have a quick shower to freshen herself up, drink some water and find Klaus. He deserved a fist to his face.

When she returned, she found Kol sitting on her bed, a compelled chef standing next to him and Kol had the biggest smile on his face. "How are you feeling? Did the downside of transitioning already set in? Or do you still feel a little bit like a human?"

Bella realized why Kol was smiling so widely. She was naked, not having bothered to get a clean change of clothes with her to the bathroom as it was her and Klaus' bedroom and not expecting someone else. Shrugging, she dropped her towel and walked to the closet. A lot of men had seen her naked before; this wasn't any different. If Klaus didn't agree with this, then he'd have to battle it out with his brother himself. "Where's Klaus?"

He looked as if he was debating something and looked at the cook before watching the letter in his hand. "Eh, you should read this. I think it's safer for all of us if you read it before you fully turn…"

Bella scowled as she pulled a shirt over her head and took the letter from Kol. "What did the asshole do now?"

"Just read the letter, darling, he'll explain it himself."

" _Good Morning, love._

 _First, I sincerely want to apologize for my behavior. For neglecting you and most of all, for giving you a horrible death. Please forgive me, I was behaving uncharacteristically._

 _Secondly; I wish I could be with you when you awake. I know how frightening a transition can be, and you deserve better than waking up alone, ready to proceed with the next chapter in your life as a vampire. I hope that whoever is with you, will treat you well._

 _As for my reason for not being with you, I have to disappear. With my enemies fast approaching New Orleans, it's best if I'm not there. Yes, this leaves my siblings cleaning up the mess that I'm in but this is how I, how we, survived for many years. I'm not alone. I have Hope and Hayley with me; my enemies could know about my daughter and use her against me. I have hope that they don't know about you, and you'll be safe at the compound under the protection of my siblings. They assured me that no harm will come upon you whether inflicted by one of our own or the Cold Ones._

 _There's no doubt you'd like to give me an earful. I've instructed my brother to buy you a mobile phone so you can do just that._

 _Please know that I wished I could have taken you with me, but you're safer at home._

 _Forgive me._

 _Yours, always, Klaus."_

"Seriously?" Bella said as she looked at Kol. She could feel her anger make her blood boil. "The asshole leaves, just like that? And you let him?"

"Yes. When you've lived as long as he has, there are periods of time where he just simply disappears. His name nothing but a rumor, a whisper, a reminder of the big evil monster that he projects to be. In this situation, it's best for him to leave."

"And what do I do? Knit booties for Hope? I can't knit, Kol. Give me your phone; I want to call him."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Kol watched her carefully. "Have some blood first."

"Oh, no, I want to call him now. Give me your phone or I'll go to Elijah." Sighing, Kol handed her his phone. Bella dialed Klaus' number and put him on speaker.

" _Hello, Kol."_

"Think again, asshole."

" _Love, I can explain, no doubt Kol has given you-"_

"Yeah, well, you know that thing I do with my tongue that you love so much? Don't even think about asking me to do that to you for the rest of this century, dickhead," she said before disconnecting the call and handed Kol his phone back.

"Feel better?"

"Yes, thank you," Bella sighed relieved. She didn't feel that much better, but at least she had given Klaus an answer. One that hurt him the most.

A mischievous spark appeared in Kol's eyes. "So, what's that thing with the tongue you do?"

"Oh, I promised Klaus I wouldn't take clients anymore, Kol," Bella said playfully as she sat down on the bed next to him, still only wearing a shirt. "But since he's not here, I suppose that you can find out for $250."

"And where, pray tell, am I going to get such money? I've been dead for months! Elijah hasn't given me access to the family money yet!"

"Well then," Bella said as she pat his shoulder. "I guess you'll never know."

"Doesn't matter anyway, I'm taken. Although I don't know for how long."

"Why's that?"

"I promised Davina I could control my bloodlust but… when I'm around her, I can't. I want to rip out her beautiful little throat and drink her blood. The urge to kill her is so strong, and I don't know what's going on."

"That sucks."

He let out a chuckle and nodded. "Yes. I might have to lose the love of my life because all I want is to sink my teeth into her. I was never one to control my bloodlust, but this is different."

"I'm sorry," Bella replied, genuinely feeling for him. "You've been through so much; you deserve some happiness."

"Yes, but here I am, looking after a transitioning vampire singer. Any symptoms yet?"

She smiled at him and then looked around. "No, you've been kind to me with the curtains closed and noise kept to a minimum… I'm still thirsty but… yeah… I doubt a glass of water would do."

"Well, how about you just drink a little from this fine man here before you start experiencing the nasty side effects of being in transition?" Kol thumbed over to the chef.

"I don't have to kill him, do I?"

"No, but that's up to you. Restraint is not easy to learn for a new vampire. Hell, I never bothered learning control."

"Can't you just pour something in a cup? I mean, I would have been fine with a blood bag…" she looked at the chef. It was Klaus' favorite, what if she ended up killing him? Right now, she didn't mind, but she'd eventually regret it. "I mean, I don't want to be a princess vampire, I know what you're thinking, but he's a good chef. He's a good man. I don't mind going after the bad guys and eat them but…"

"Ugh. Morals," Kol sighed as he got up from the bed, grabbed a glass from the side table and had the man bleed into the glass before handing it over to Bella. "We'll have to go bad guy hunting then for a proper feed. Luckily for you, the Quarter has its seedy places, you'll never go hungry."

"Yay." She took the glass and threw it back in one go. She wasn't new to drinking blood, but vampire blood tasted differently than that of a human, and this was so damn good. Bella could feel how her face changed and licked her lips.

Kol frowned as he looked at her wrists. She was fully healed. He grabbed her wrist, getting a little resistance from Bella and looked at it, gently running his thumb over where there used to be the Cold One scar. "Huh. Interesting."

She pulled her hand back as she wanted more blood, Kol's remark not hitting home. She put her finger inside of the glass to get the remaining blood out and licked her fingers as she looked at Kol through her lashes. "So so so so good," she said with a moan.

"No, no, you can't do this to me, Bella," Kol groaned, feeling the blood rush to places he didn't want to have it rush to. That was supposed to be for Davina and Davina only. It didn't help that he had seen Bella naked just minutes before and that she was only wearing a shirt to cover herself. He quickly snatched the glass and refilled it with the chef's blood before ordering him to leave. Kol then gave Bella the glass back and headed to the door. "Put some clothes on, darling; I'll come back to check up on you in a minute."

"Need a hand?" Bella teased him.

"I'll just quickly pop over to Davina's."

"Aw, that's no fun," Bella said with a pout, getting off the bed and drinking from the glass as she walked towards Kol. "I'm fun," she added with a sultry smile dancing on her lips. "I mean, really. I'm so much fun… you have no idea."

"Bella, you're going to have to entertain yourself," Kol pushed her back into the room. "Get dressed; I'll be back shortly."

"And here I thought you were supposed to be the fun brother!" Bella said with a scowl, turning her back on him and drained the glass again before getting dressed. She was going for the hot, but comfortable look. Tight fitting jeans, because her favorite pair of boots fit so nicely underneath it, and a crop top. It was cropped maybe a little too much to be considered to be a fitting crop top, but it was hot outside, and she wanted her skin to breathe. She wanted to feel what it was like to feel everything, absorb everything.

And she was hungry. She needed more blood. It was time to find a villain.

~o.O.o~

"Something's not right," Klaus muttered as he sat in the car next to Hayley. It was a good thing that she was driving because he could feel a sudden burst of power igniting inside of him, something he had felt leave only a couple of days before, tickling the inside of his veins. But he also felt hyper vigilant, on the prowl, and seeing as he was enjoying a somewhat relaxed car ride with Hayley and their daughter, this sensation was out of the ordinary.

"What do you mean?" Hayley asked concerned, quickly looking at Klaus, scanning his face, before looking back at the road.

"I don't know," Klaus said as he took his phone and called Kol. "Brother."

" _She's fine."_

"I wouldn't expect anything less," he replied cautiously. "Tell me, where is she? With you?"

" _I had to take care of something, Nik; I left her alone in her room to get dressed."_

"What?"

" _What? She was naked when she came out of the bathroom while I was waiting for her, how was I supposed to know that she hadn't brought any clothes with her?"_

"Bella has plenty of clothes in our bedroom, Kol."

" _Nik, she went into the bathroom without a change of clothes, so when I waited for her in the room…"_

Klaus let out a low growl. "She's mine."

" _Oh, I know. Don't you worry about that, I know, but she's definitely related to the Petrova's. Anyway, what can I do for you?"_

"Where is she now?"

" _I told you, the bedroom."_

"And where are you?"

" _In the courtyard?"_

"Go check on her, now." Klaus hit his face with the flat palm of his hand while Hayley let out a chuckle. His brother was quite tiresome, he had specifically asked for Elijah to introduce Bella to her new status, but instead, the idiot brother was doing it.

" _I swear, she was just here… Nik, she can't go out without a daylight ring."_

There was panic in Kol's voice. Good. "If anything happens to her, I will tear out your heart and shove it down your throat until it comes out the other end! Find her! Now!" Kol was right; she couldn't go out without a daylight ring if she didn't want to end up like a piece of crispy bacon. But this was Bella they were talking about; something special by herself, a singer, and she survived the Cold Ones. Surely she could escape the sun?

" _Sure thing, Nik, I'll also have Freya do a spell to figure out what's going on with you, how's that?"_

Klaus merely growled in response and disconnected the call. "We have to go back."

"Klaus, I'm sure they have it under control," Hayley laughed. "She's a newborn vampire, what could go wrong?"

He looked at her and rolled his eyes at her. "Do you really wish for me to answer that?"

~o.O.o~

She had dumped the rapist she'd caught in the act - and then eaten - into a dumpster before resuming her hunt. They were close, but not that close. They'd retreated because of the sun, not even their cloaks would be able to protect them that well against it. Not that they'd be that much of a spectacle in New Orleans. There were crazier things in the street.

She was glad that she didn't sparkle in the sunlight, in all honesty, when she finally realized that she was out in the sun, she'd already been far away from the compound. And she didn't combust, either. Klaus turned her, as a vampire, not as a werewolf, she should be burning in the sun, but she didn't. And she didn't have a daylight ring.

Was it because of her job description as the Cold One killer? That because of that she didn't burn? Maybe it would be helpful to find Peter and ask him. Or talk to Kol about this.

Nah. Right now she couldn't even be bothered. She existed, and that was good enough. Speaking of Kol, just like on the Ancestral Plane, she could feel a certain pull to him, and she was sure she'd overstepped her boundaries with him. Made him feel uncomfortable and… but on the other hand, she didn't feel guilty about it, either.

And she should be. She knew she should be feeling guilty about this pull she felt towards the youngest Mikaelson brother and Bella knew she needed to tell Klaus about this, but she wasn't going to. She was angry; there was so much rage and resentment towards Klaus inside of her, and she was going to enjoy every single bit of the pull towards Kol and play with him. Fuck with his mind a little, see how far she could go before the puppy would break.

Bella smirked as she ducked behind the bushes in the Bayou and continued her hunt. The wind was blowing at her so the Cold Ones she'd find wouldn't be able to smell her and she'd surprise them. Oh, this was going to be fun!

~o.O.o~

"Niklaus just sent me a message," Elijah remarked calmly as Freya was doing a locator spell on Bella, but was thus far, unsuccessful. "He's wondering what we're doing."

"Just tell him that we're attempting to locate his troublesome newborn girlfriend seeing as he decided to take off after turning her and leaving us to babysit," Freya countered angrily. "But the little bitch doesn't want to be found."

"That leaves two options; either St. James' Infirmary or Débauche," Elijah said as he dialed Myriam's number. "We'll have her found in less than five minutes."

" _Elijah?"_

"Bella woke up," Elijah greeted her with a smile on his face. "She came through her transition quite beautifully."

" _Good. When Klaus comes back in town, I'm going to crush his balls in my hands for leaving her alone like that."_

He winced at that. "So I take it she's not with you?"

" _What do you mean, she's not with me? I thought she was with you? You just said she was doing well with her transition! How can you lose her, Elijah?"_

"For the record, I didn't lose her. It was Kol."

"Hey!" Kol objected. "I needed to get out of there because she was-"

" _How many times does your brother have to die to learn a lesson? And she was what? I dare you to say it..."_

"I heard that!" Kol huffed. "Naked and coming on to me! Quite successfully too!"

" _And you gave her a daylight ring?"_

"That's just it, she doesn't have one," Elijah said calmly. "But no matter, we'll find her, don't worry about it." Before he knew it, he was knocked off his feet by Myriam, who had rushed over to the compound at top speed. "You didn't have to come," he said as he got back to his feet and looked at her. "We have it under control."

"Oh yeah, it certainly looks like you've got it under control."

"Allow me to call Marcel; he's at St. James'."

Myriam looked at Freya for an answer.

"I can't track her. She's either there or …"

"Don't say it," Myriam hissed. "And if we find her, I'm taking her back to the club until Klaus gets back. The Original family is obviously not equipped to look after a newborn vampire as stubborn and intelligent as Bella."

"In our defense, the last newborn we've raised by ourselves was Marcel," Kol objected. "And how was I supposed to know that she'd take off?"

" _Casse-toi ta Connard_!" Myriam rolled her eyes at him. "You shut up, you lost her, you have no say in this!"

"Just calm down," Freya said calmly as she continued her spell. "Call Marcel; not all is lost."

She growled and walked to one of the end tables to pour herself a bourbon. "What else aren't you telling me?"

Elijah sighed and tiredly rubbed his eyes as he called Marcel. "She and Niklaus might be connected on a different level, but we're not certain of that yet. We figured it was more important to find her first."

"Of course they're connected on a different level, they're fucking each other, aren't they?"

"Not like that, differently. We don't know yet. It's just an idea, a theory. Yes, Marcel, is Bella with you? Ah, I see. Well, thank you. No, everything's fine. Thank you," Elijah disconnected the call and sighed, looking at Freya. "Are you certain she's not dead?"

"I'm pretty sure our brother would be calling and throw insults and threats to our head if that was the case," she replied as she sat down and thought for a moment. "What if we can't track her because she's a hunter? Not like any of the Five or anything, but she's a special kind of breed of vampire. Or perhaps all the protection spells we've bombarded her with over the last two weeks have somehow been absorbed into her body making her even untraceable to my own magic?"

It was almost as if a lightbulb went on over Kol's head. "I know why she doesn't need a daylight ring to walk about in the sun."


	32. Purple Bonfire

Elijah blinked at his brother. "You do?" All vampires needed to wear a daylight ring, Original or not, to protect them from the fire. Niklaus didn't have to wear one anymore due to his hybrid nature now unbound, but that was quite special and rare these days.

Kol nodded. "For the same reason Nik doesn't have to. Bella's a hybrid. Or a tribrid, even, like Hope."

"Explain yourself."

"It makes sense, really," Kol sighed, not believing how dimwitted his brother was. "Think, Elijah. I'm pretty sure even your lovely lady would know the answer," he said as he winked at Myriam. "Hi, darling, allow me to properly introduce myself-"

"No need," Myriam said curtly. "I know who you are. Now speak."

Kol held up one finger. "One. She's not a witch, but she's from a line of Travelers, imbued by their magic to be a singer to the Cold Ones, which makes her a supernatural being," he said as he held up another finger. "Two. She survived a Cold One's venom, leaving a scar on her wrist. No doubt there was still a little bit of venom in there, but in my book, this happening makes her pretty special as well. Which brings us to three; we all know that physical ailments get healed when a person turns. I believe that when she turned into a vampire, her body absorbed the magic, the venom, that was in that scar because this morning, the scar wasn't there anymore."

"And you believe that this venom ensured Bella's safety in the sun?" Elijah asked, curious.

"It must be. I mean, I don't know for sure until Freya can perform a spell to check her over, but that's my theory, yes. We're all in uncharted territory with her. I've never encountered something like her before," he shrugged. "Not to mention, all singers had a special thing about them. Their own strength, their own ability. For instance, Carmen, who was responsible for the initial culling of the Cold Ones way back when, used her voice to destroy them. Bella's mind is a fortress, nobody can get in, or get a proper read on her. Now, this could be because of the Traveler spell, of course, but there's no denying that she is very smart and cunning."

"All nice and all, but shouldn't we focus on finding her first?" Myriam said as she poured herself another glass of alcohol.

"If she's truly a huntress, she'd go where the Cold Ones are hiding out. It's likely the Bayou, due to its copious amount of shade that the trees provide," Elijah offered.

"Go," Freya said tiredly. "I'll hold down the fort."

"Yeah, hold on, I need to get something out of Nik's and Bella's bedroom first," Kol said after being overwhelmed by the smell of marshmallows for some reason.

~o.O.o~

Bella was sitting in a discarded lawn chair that she had found, watching the fire crackle in front of her. She was proud of herself, she felt accomplished and elated. She felt how the fire warmed her bones and she wished she were a cat, lazily yawn and curl up enjoying the heat. Get her belly rubbed. Purr like a kitten. Perhaps offer Myriam to go work for her again now that Klaus was gone because like a cat in heat, Bella needed to fuck someone's brains out.

That someone would likely be Kol, though. She'd already felt the pull towards him on the Ancestral Plane, as if she needed to look after him, take care of him, fuck him mercilessly and make sure that he didn't do anything stupid. He was hot. He was delicious and he was so adorably cute when he saw her naked.

Perhaps Klaus would forgive her if she'd accidentally fall onto Kol's dick while she was naked. Revenge. Kol would be a better idea than to go back to Débauche, wouldn't it? Sure, he was Klaus' brother, but at least Klaus knew him? And Klaus couldn't kill Kol, not as long as Bella had the last remaining White Oak in her possession and Klaus would never be able to find it. She hid it well.

She licked her lips as she stretched herself and slipped her hand inside her pants. Hell yeah, she was going to satisfy herself while watching the bonfire. She earned it. And it didn't take her long to get to the point of no return, she could feel her fingers touch every nerve, every cell, in her body and it set her on fire like the fire in front of her and she came hard, her moan echoing through the Bayou. Bella was so proud of herself.

With a big grin on her face, she licked her fingers as she watched Kol and Elijah approach the bonfire. "Well, that took you long enough," she commented.

"Are you alright?" Elijah asked worried. "Was that you just now?"

"Oh, Elijah, don't go there," Kol said in a hushed voice, admiring the bonfire instead. "What's this, Bella? Four Cold Ones?"

"Five!" She replied with a wide grin. "Or six, I don't know. Wasn't paying that much attention. But I should have brought marshmallows, I mean, this is a great purple bonfire."

Kol tossed the bag into her lap. "Would you please tell one of us where you're going next time? You had us all scared. Even Nik called-"

"Screw Klaus," she said angrily as she tore open the bag and popped a marshmallow in her mouth. "He's not here and he doesn't have a say in what I can and can't do. He left and took his floozy of a one night stand with him and his daughter, the most important things in the world."

Kol quickly glanced over to Elijah, both knowing that she was right. Despite the heightened emotions she was probably - likely - experiencing, she was right. "But he did it to protect you."

Bella huffed. "If he wanted to protect me, he would have taken me along or stayed. Not this and now he needs to be taught a lesson."

"But you love him, don't you?" Elijah asked, feeling his phone violently vibrate in his pocket, no doubt Niklaus was trying to get his attention.

She let out a long, drawn out sigh and rubbed her head. "I do, but that doesn't mean that what he's done is right. Or what he's done in the last few weeks is right. Wow, I'm such a pushover." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Oh, I'm such a rubbish person, that's just… wow. But hey, look, burning Cold Ones!"

"Want to hunt down some more?" Kol asked as he walked around to see if she was doing alright. "Or would you like to do something else?" Like Elijah, he was ignoring the phone in his pocket. His brother shouldn't complain, he told them to find her and now they had.

"Nah, I'm tired. I want to curl up and die. Or take a bath. Or get annoyed by Hope's crying, oh wait," Bella scratched her head in confusion. "What the fuck is going on?" She growled as she looked at Elijah and Kol. "Am I experiencing Klaus' feelings?"

"I don't know, are you?" Kol was intrigued as he squatted down in front of her. "You feel his annoyance at Hope?"

"And me. And I don't know, I can't differentiate right now. Oh, bloody hell, this is just grand," she popped a marshmallow into her mouth. "Take me to Freya, because even I know that this isn't normal," she sighed as she got up from the deck chair. "I will kill her if she can't do a spell to check me over, just so you know."

"No, you won't," Kol snorted. "Wait!" He got his phone out and smirked. "Strike a pose next to the bonfire, we'll send Nik a picture."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You want me to vogue? I'd need my cone bra, and last time I checked, Myriam had borrowed it from me and never returned it."

Elijah made a mental note of hunting that thing down and destroying it as he absentmindedly read his brother's messages. They went from patient to impatient to even all caps. "Perhaps we should risk it to bring Niklaus back, at least until we've sorted this out."

"No!" Bella picked up a burning finger and threw it at Elijah with excellent aim. "He can go fuck himself. And I swear, if he puts his dick into Hayley, I will cut off his dick and feed it to him."

"Okay," Kol said patronizingly as he put an arm around her. "Let's get you home and in a calm, serene state before you do something you'll regret."

"I'm hungry."

"We'll find you a bad guy."

"I ate a rapist earlier," she smirked as she put her arm around his waist and followed him with a bounce in her step. "Don't worry, I was discreet and they'll find his body in a dumpster… I might have done some overkill by bashing in his face but… he was raping this girl, you see and…"

"No need to justify sticking up for other women, darling, you've done great."

Elijah watched as Kol dragged Bella off, away from the fire and hopefully back to the compound and once he was certain they were out of earshot, he decided to return his brother's messages by calling him. "Niklaus, we have her."

" _Don't lose her again!"_

He sighed as he ran a hand over his face. "We won't, but tell me, are you experiencing mood swings?"

" _We're currently at a car dealership because I became so frustrated that I accidentally ruined the car when I kicked against the tire, breaking the chassis. I'm experiencing surges of power I cannot begin to understand and mood swings cannot even begin to describe, variating from being disgusted with myself for what I've put Bella through to…"_

"What?"

" _Wanting to fuck my bloody brother, what the hell is going on, Elijah?"_

"We're going to find that out, don't you fret," he replied. One part of him was amused, but the rational part of him was clearly not. It wasn't as if they could use another complication to their lives. "Oh, Niklaus, what have you done?"

" _What have I done?! Wasn't it your pestering that caused me to turn her?"_

His brother was right about that. "Clearly we shouldn't have allowed Bella to trust Kol so blindly on the prophecy and should have looked into it more."

" _Clearly. Fix it."_

"Of course."

" _And Elijah, please, if what I'm feeling is coming off of Bella, keep her away from Kol."_

"Don't you trust her to stay faithful to you, brother?"

" _She IS from the Petrova bloodline, Elijah, and she's bloody pissed at me for what I've put her through. I do trust her, and I trust her instincts, and right now, she seems to have formed a bond with our newly resurrected brother and I do not wish to entertain the idea that she'll soon be screwing him."_

"Do have some faith in Kol, Niklaus. He's trying his best to deflect her," Elijah said soothingly. "This is only day one of her turning and as Kol had said before we found her, we're in new territory here."

" _I do have faith in our brother, Elijah, but you know as well as I do what kind of effect Petrova's tend to have on us. Do I need to remind you of Tatia? Katherine? Even young Elena struck a chord with us even if we do not wish to entertain that idea."_

"They're distant cousins. Your paranoia is getting the better of you."

" _Mark my words, Elijah, before this week is over, Kol and Bella will have had sex and there's nothing I can do to stop it."_

"Myriam suggested that Bella should stay at Débauche for the time being."

" _Yes."_

"Unfortunately, Bella's a grown woman who can make her own decisions, I sincerely doubt she'll tolerate it if we'd tell her to go back to the club."

" _Fix this, Elijah."_

"What if there's no fixing?" The silence on the other end of the line said enough. "We'll try our best, Niklaus, now, be safe and don't try to murder people. And don't send us messages all the time. The whole point of disappearing is less contact."

With a growl, Klaus disconnected the call and looked at Hayley. "We shouldn't have left."

"Yeah well, it's too late now. You wanted your siblings to clean up your mess, now they're going to. Let's go, I found us a new car."

~o.O.o~

Kol made sure that Bella was well fed before going back to compound, and even he joined in on the festivities. She had quite the appetite for a new vampire and she knew what to do. She had explained that when living with vampires for a couple of years, you're bound to pick up a thing or to. She was probably right. At least she wasn't much on edge anymore after their feeding frenzy and she promised to behave. Much like an overfed baby, she was tired and would do whatever.

It was likely that she'd gone out on her own doing her hunting part too soon, that it had drained her before she could fully recharge her batteries. He tucked her into bed when they returned and once she was asleep, he let Freya perform a couple of spells to see if she could detect what was going on, but it was likely that they'd have to find their answers somewhere else. Italy, perhaps. In the midst of all the evil. Oh, nobody but Bella was going to like that idea; to go to the source of all evil. Their kings.

Kol trusted Elijah and Freya to keep an eye on Bella while he popped in with Davina for a little. Davina was, of course, his girlfriend. Yes, he had said to Bella on the Ancestral Plane that he was likely going to kill her but now that he was with her in the flesh, it was different. He had thought Davina would refuse him anyway, no matter what she had said when she came to see him, but she hadn't. And her heart was simply beautiful.

And honestly, a sleeping Bella couldn't do any harm.

~o.O.o~

Myriam watched anxiously as Freya prepared for her spells to perform on Bella. She couldn't believe that there was something wrong with her friend - _her daughter_ , in a way - and that whatever was going on was only temporary. That was her hope.

But Elijah was right, too. Bella was something special. It was something that she and Klaus had already known when Bella came knocking for help, to hide from the Cold Ones but now that it was actually happening, it was frightening. There wasn't much known about what Bella was, and that bothered her. What if nobody could learn how to live with whatever power was released when she turned and Bella had to leave New Orleans? Myriam didn't want that.

"Relax," Elijah said as he watched Myriam pace the bedroom. "You're making Freya nervous."

"I don't get nervous, brother," Freya remarked playfully. "But I do appreciate the sentiment."

"How could he do this, Elijah? Why did you allow Niklaus to leave? Bella is his to take care of, not you and your family's."

"Myriam, she _is_ family. And she knows that when you're a part of our family, you'd have to make certain sacrifices."

"Yes, but not like this," she growled in response. "When she wakes up, I'm going to talk to her and see if she wishes to come to the club in Klaus' absence. You simply do not abandon family. If Niklaus truly cared about her-"

"He does."

"Well, he has an awful way of showing that!"

Freya frowned at that. "I thought you and Klaus know each other for a very long time, Myriam. Aren't you supposed to be friends and business partners?"

"All the more reason why I'm allowed to cut off his balls and serve them on a platter for him to eat," she replied. "Yes, we're friends. We were lovers, we were…" she looked at Elijah. "We were, we're not now. No. But it does give me an excellent insight in Klaus' psyche and even for him, leaving his gorgeous girlfriend to transition without him, this is pretty low."

"You have to understand, he needed to disappear."

"He could have waited a couple more days," she replied grumpily and crossed her arms over her chest. "And don't you even dare asking me if I want to have a date night soon. You're not getting any either."

"What did I do?"

"You're the brother of the asshole who left my girl all by herself with a bunch of idiots who can't even track her."

"Sorry, brother, seems like we're all guilty by association," Freya said amused. "Now, quiet and give me a few minutes to see if I can detect anything without getting a headache from that shield of hers." She started to cast a spell. "There's definitely some extra magic around her after her turning," she said calmly. "Ties to-"

Freya couldn't finish her sentence as she was knocked back by a magical barrier and before anyone could react, Bella was awake and on top of Freya, her hands around Freya's neck and squeezing her throat shut. "Stop putting your nose into things that don't concern you!" Bella spat as she could feel Freya trying to push her away with her magic. "Oh, that doesn't work on me, you stupid little cunt."

"Enough!" Kol rushed in, half dressed and pulled Bella off of his sister, throwing Bella against the wall across the room. When Bella didn't even flinch and started to charge again, he intercepted her and wrapped his arms around her, tightly, lifting her off her feet so she couldn't gain traction. "You need to calm down, darling," he said calmly to the wriggling little vampire in his arms. "She's only doing what we wanted her to do, remember?"

"I don't want it! Let me go!"

"No."

Elijah fed his sister some of his blood to heal her bruised throat and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright, Freya?"

"Let me go, Kol! I have your brother's White Oak toy, let me go or I'll find it and shove it into your chest cavity when you're asleep!"

"Aw, that's cute, darling," Kol purred with a grin on his face. "I'm still not letting you go. Now, if the three of you could just leave, I can work on calming her down."

Freya immediately walked over to the bar once they were downstairs in the courtyard. She was a little shaken and aggravated at the same time. "Klaus has created a monster."

Myriam poured herself a large glass of alcohol as well before deciding on taking the entire bottle with her to the couch and left the glass on the bar. She'd never seen Bella like that before. She knew that Bella could be temperamental, but as a new vampire with her emotions still all over the place? "I doubt that the club's magic will be able to contain her," she said, still a little bit shell shocked. "Who is that in that bedroom? Is that truly Bella?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Elijah sighed and tiredly rubbed his eyes. "And so far, only Kol managed to get through to her. It appears that that part of her prophecy was more literal than we thought it'd be. More… linked. We're not certain, of course, that's why Freya did the spell."

"You had one hell of a day."

"It's not over yet. Her rage reminds me of newborn Cold Ones. They're stronger, faster and more relentless than older vampires. It eventually wears off, but until it does, they're pretty much untouchable."

"Can't Peter help out?"

"He's a Cold One. Bella might actually end up killing him," Freya groaned as she knocked back another glass. "Trust me, if he thought he'd be of any help, he'd be here. He likes to feel wanted and appreciated."

"All we need to do is endure her for a little longer, take care of Tristan to make sure he won't be able to throw a wrench in our plans and take care of any enemy of Niklaus coming our way."

Myriam eyed her lover. "The temper tantrums of a newborn Cold One usually last for about a year. Are you sure you want to _endure_ her that long, Elijah? Who knows how long Niklaus will be gone for?"

"Seriously?" Freya shot at her brother.

"You know what, Elijah? For the entire duration of you having to _endure_ Bella's temper tantrums, you and I will not have intercourse."

"What!"

"You heard me, Cherie," Myriam said with a playful smile on her lips.

Elijah's head snapped to the entrance to the courtyard after hearing footsteps. "Davina," he let out a breath and got to his feet. "What are you doing here?" He was still not happy with her, for what she'd done to him and most importantly, to Niklaus. But she'd also reunited his family by resurrecting his brother Kol, so his feelings for her were a little mixed. "What can we do for you?"

"Is Kol here?"

"He's upstairs in Niklaus' bedroom," he replied calmly and pointed upstairs.

"Good," she said as she continued to march deeper into the compound and went up the stairs.

"Should we at least tell her what he's doing?" Myriam offered, a little bit concerned for the young witch' safety.

"No," Freya smirked. "Although I wouldn't mind having a front row seat to whatever is going to happen up there."

"Yes, however, I do believe we'll be safer down here," Elijah added as he took the glass that Myriam left on the bar and took a sip from it. "The things we do for family."


	33. We're going on a trip

"Have you calmed down yet?" Kol asked Bella, who was still locked in his arms and her feet off the ground. He made sure to stay away from chairs and the bed so she couldn't push herself off of him. "Do you still wish to kill my sister?"

"Yes," Bella replied with a sigh. "But I also know that she's only doing what we've asked and that I'm completely overreacting."

"That's progress, I like it," he agreed. "However, if I'd let you go would you go and kill her anyway?"

"Yeah, pretty much. My impulse control is severely lacking."

He was glad to hear that at least her brain was still able to rationalize things and just kept holding her. "Well then, I'll just have to hold you indefinitely. I'll have you know that you ruined a perfect opportunity to have some great sex with my girlfriend, you know."

She finally gave up struggling against his hold and was now hanging in his arms; her knees bent, and she was resting on his arms for support. "I did offer."

"And we're both in a relationship, it's not going to happen, Bella," Kol said sternly before his ears picked up the sound of Davina's feet walking towards the bedroom. He could feel the want, the drive, to kill Davina again. He did all he could not to kill her, and he was fine when he was on his own with her, but he could feel it rise to the surface yet again. On top of that, Bella would want to take a bite out of her, too. "Oh shit," he turned around, with Bella still in his arms, her legs swinging everywhere causing her to giggle. "Davina, it's not what it looks like!"

"What it looks like is that you're half dressed and having the person who used me to get to you in your arms with torn clothes. Klaus' whore," Davina said as she crossed her arms. "You left me for her?"

"As I said, it's not what it looks like."

"Then what is it?" she sounded impatient. "And I swear, if you're going to say it's a long story, I will make you regret it."

"Can I say it?" Bella grinned at Kol before narrowing her eyes on Davina. "It's a long story. Like… very long. You should leave before he bites you."

"Kol wouldn't hurt me."

"Yeah, he would," Bella countered. "He's a vampire with control issues."

"Says the baby vampire who just admitted not to have any impulse control herself," Kol said with a snort. "Good job, Bella."

"Fine, if you're not going to kill her, can I?"

"No, you will not touch Davina."

Davina sneered and with a flick of her wrist, snapped Bella's neck, causing her to go limp in Kol's arms. "You'd better start explaining things now, or else. If you two are together, we're done."

"Now why didn't I think of that?" Kol said with a chuckle and unceremoniously threw Bella onto the bed. "Davina, I believe we need to talk," he said, taking a step closer to his girlfriend, feeling the urge to kill her in him rise. "However, we should probably do that in the presence of my siblings."

"Kol, I'm not afraid of you," Davina sighed as she walked up to him and put her hand on his cheek. "But I am angry with you for leaving as you did. For her. What's up with that? What's going on?"

"It's Bella, she's… special. Nik just turned her, and she's… adjusting," he tried to breathe through his mouth as not to catch Davina's delicious scent as much. "I'm not sure if should tell you more about her…"

"You are," Davina demanded. "You are going to tell me everything."

"I can't, but what I can say is that for some reason, I can feel what she feels, mostly her anger and rage. And it's not my fault, I swear. Nor Freya's. It's just… I don't know. We connected somehow. We're still in the process of figuring things out ourselves, and I had to leave you earlier because I felt that Bella was losing her cool. She wanted to kill Freya and of course, I can't allow that to happen."

She huffed. "I could understand the link between her and Klaus if he's the one who turned her, the connection between you and her is ridiculous."

"It could have something to do with her being a part of the family of Travelers. While her line wasn't practicing magic, the root of their family did. We don't know. There's too many unknowns to be certain, and we need to figure things out," Kol explained as calm as he could, taking a deep breath when he looked away from her. Damn, the urge to kill Davina was so strong. "On top of that, it's entirely possible that the Ancestors did something to me when you brought me back, I wouldn't put it past them, to be honest. They hate you and really hate me…"

"Kol, whatever it is, we'll figure it out, okay?" Davina smiled at him. "Maybe you should hang out at St. James' Infirmary for a while, no magic can reach you there."

"I doubt it'll stop me from wanting to rip out your throat, darling," he said, giving her a slight push back and took a few steps back.

"Don't push me away. We can fix this. I promise."

"And what if it'll only get worse, Davina? What if I lose my control and kill you? I wouldn't be able to live with myself and Marcel would kill me."

She laughed. "Marcel can't kill you, Kol. Not anymore."

"Well, at least he'd find numerous of ways to make my life miserable, not taking in account the torture he'll try on top of that, no." He took another step back as she kept walking towards him. Soon, he wouldn't have any place to go. "I told you that as a vampire, I'm a psychotic maniac."

"Yes, but you promised me you'd do better. For me."

"I did, and I am, but I can't fight this, Davina."

"I can protect myself; you shouldn't be afraid of being who you are, Kol. As long as we can be together," she said, standing toe to toe now, Kol was standing against the wall. "You won't hurt me. What has changed since you left me and arrived here? You were doing fine."

"I drowned myself in blood before I came to you and I really don't want to hurt you, Davina, but that doesn't mean that I will," he said as his true face came out. Oh, he wanted to rip her throat out with his teeth, dig his hand into her chest cavity and crush her heart in his hand, feeling it crumble into nothingness. Tear off her limbs one at a time. But mainly, he just wanted her dead.

Davina reached out to touch his cheek again, not bothered in the slightest with the fact that his game face was on. "And you've already sprung a leak? Where did it all go?"

"Davina," he said pained. "Please…" It was hard to resist the urge now. He didn't want to push her away either as he'd promised not to hurt her but as a last resort… Oh, why couldn't she take 'no' for an answer? Why didn't she listen to him? Did she see him as a broken little bird that needed to be fixed? What if this couldn't be fixed until he'd actually kill her?

Before Kol knew it, he was lunging for Davina, unable to stop himself and tried to push her away at the same time. His teeth then sank into skin, tasting blood, drinking greedily and he closed his eyes. This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening, he repeated to himself inside his mind. The initial panic subsided and he was surprised to hear a moan coming from Davina's lips. Opening his eyes, he saw Davina watch in horror from the other end of the room and felt confused for a moment. Who was he biting and draining from all her blood?

"How's that for a Snickers bar?" Bella quipped, gently patting the feeding vampire on his shoulder. "Feeling better?"

"Bella?" he said confused as he felt he'd had enough. He then looked at Davina and didn't feel the murderous urge to kill her anymore, either. "What? You… huh?"

"It's okay," she said soothingly. "No killing your girlfriend, I got it, remember?" Bella looked at Davina with a smile. "Although she did say she didn't want to see me again so… I don't know…"

"No, you did good," Kol let out a breath. "Thank you."

Bella nodded and ruffled his hair before walking towards the door. "Don't worry! I'm merely going to sit with Elijah, Myriam and Freya to give you the illusion of privacy while you two chat!"

~o.O.o~

A couple of days later, they received word from Klaus that he and Hayley were destroying every Kingmaker facility they could get their hands on; destroying all of Lucien's work. Lucien was dead now, but he'd been up to no good, and it had been a good thing that Peter had killed him when he did.

It set something off within Bella, after behaving much better than the first day she'd turned, but to hear that her boyfriend and his fucking ex were dismantling everything belonging to Lucien and having fun with it was just wrong and painful.

Trashing Lucien's apartment with Kol and salvaging important things that could help them or the family didn't quite hit the mark. The Cullens had retreated out of New Orleans, but Bella still found a few newborns hiding in the Bayou, no doubt having been left there by someone and she took care of them instead. But it was still itching. She wanted more.

"Do you think the Volturi may have more information about what's going on with me?" Bella asked Elijah during family breakfast. "I mean, not in specifics, of course, I know that I'm completely different from Carmen, but…"

"I wouldn't put it past them to collect all of their history in their extensive library instead of destroying it," Elijah replied curiously. "Imagine what knowledge must be in their possession."

"Or what their witches, their scientists, may have discovered. For all we know they've done an experiment with both vampire species," Kol added with a big smile on his face. Was his brother going to offer to go to Italy? How would he react if Bella would jump at the chance to go there instead? "I wouldn't put it past them to try to enhance themselves somehow. Or see what our weaknesses are."

"I want to go to Italy. Take on the Volturi before I kill the rest of them. Without their leaders, it's likely they'll run around like headless chickens," Bella said as she took a sip from her glass of blood. It was Klaus' chef again, was it his week or something?

"I'm sure Niklaus would love to accompany you once he's returned," Elijah said, perhaps a little too patronizing, which angered her to no end. She took hold of her knife and threw it at him, but he caught it before it could cut him. "There's no need for violence, Isabella. I do believe that an undertaking such as going to Europe to gather information and fulfill your destiny should be with Niklaus, not by yourself."

"Kol can come with me," she said easily, shrugging off whatever he'd just said. "I mean, you've got your hands full with trying to do the horizontal tango with Tristan instead of killing him, and look at it this way; if I take Kol to Italy with me, you won't have two unstable vampires around, and you can do whatever you please."

"It also leaves the both of you unchecked."

"Fine," Bella said defiantly. "I understand you don't trust us, then I'll ask Myriam if she wants to chaperone us, would you like that? Your girlfriend away from you?"

"What would Niklaus say about you two going off together?"

"I don't give a fuck," she said bluntly, draining her glass of blood and stuffed a croissant in her mouth. "So, let's pack light, Kol. We'll buy whatever's necessary when we get to Italy." Bella got to her feet with a big grin on her face. "Unless you don't want to leave Davina… risk wanting to bite her again… Perhaps killing her…"

"Oh, I'm going and not because of Davina. I have a score to settle with Marcus, and I want all the dark objects they've stolen from me."

"They have some of your dark objects in their possession?" Elijah fumed. "How did we not know this?"

"Because it doesn't matter, brother, I recreated them when I found them missing after they sent this idiot to steal them from me. I'm going with Bella and fine; Myriam can come as well, but frankly, we can take care of ourselves, Elijah."

"You're an excitable puppy, brother," Freya said amused. "I would have loved to accompany you, but I need to help Elijah."

Elijah already was dialing Myriam's number. "My dear, how would you like to go on a trip?"

~o.O.o~

"Couldn't you have picked a less conspicuous car to get us to the airport?" Myriam asked as she got into the backseat of the convertible. Unlike Bella and Kol, she hadn't packed light. Whatever the youngsters - okay, fine, Kol was older than she was but he was still a child - were up to, she was sure she wasn't going to like it.

"Pretty car is pretty. We're going to kill things in style," Kol smirked as he helped Bella into the car and took his seat behind the wheel. "Besides, it's lovely weather out. Let's get a tan!"

"Kol, we can't get tans."

"Party pooper," Kol said as he started the engine and let it roar for a little bit, seemingly enjoying the sound of it. He then looked over to Bella. "Is she always like this? I thought she used to have something with Klaus?"

"Well… maybe she's infected with the stick-in-the-mud-virus that Elijah has. I hear it's contagious," she deadpanned as she looked over her shoulder to Myriam. "Mom, it's okay to have some fun. This is your first holiday in years."

"I don't understand why you can't wait for Klaus to return, that's all."

"Because he's an asshole," Bella said grumpily, turning back to face forward when Kol drove off. "I mean, I understand everything, his reasoning behind it all, ignoring me, leaving with Hayley and Hope, turning me like he did, but that doesn't mean that it's okay. Besides, I want to know what the hell I'm doing before he returns, I don't want to make his life harder than it already is."

"And taking off the heads of the Cold One leaders will help a lot," Kol smirked. "We're going to have so much fun!"

The drive to the airport was swift, and after getting their boarding passes and going through security, Bella started to get anxious. She needed to feed but to feed on people in an airport would be a little… no, she wouldn't feed on innocent people. Instead, she bought a large bottle of bourbon in the liquor store and took it to the bathroom with her to drown herself in alcohol.

A good thing about being a vampire was that it took a lot of alcohol to get you drunk. Well, it was also a bad thing, but for now, it was good. But the whole bottle wasn't enough, and this didn't bode well. When she exited the stall, Myriam was there with a compelled security guard. "No," she shook her head. "Not going to feed on him."

Myriam merely shrugged before slicing the artery in the man's wrist with her sharp nails and Bella was on him in a split second, drinking from him, paying attention to his heartbeat so he wouldn't die. She hated Myriam but right now, she also kinda loved her for bringing the guy in. She released him just in time and Myriam compelled him to take a break and drink some orange juice, or whatever and Bella wiped her mouth clean with her sleeve. "I needed that," she muttered, slightly embarrassed, before a slight feeling of panic washed over her. "I'm going to be on a plane for ten hours. How the fuck am I going to survive that?!"

"Kol and I will make sure you'll be alright, Cherie; there'll be at least a hundred other people aboard the flight."

"But they're innocents!"

"Yes, and with a little compulsion and a little bit of vampire blood in their system they'll be okay. As will you," she rubbed the girl's back. "I know it's a difficult thing to get under control, your blood lust, so does Kol. He never quite wanted to learn, but he's able to do so," Myriam then let out a chuckle. "And you know how I can get when I have ingested a little bit too much blood."

"Oh, you're a hoot when you're high on blood," Bella snorted. "But you have excellent control."

"Most of the time, and that's only because I make sure I don't get tempted."

Bella smiled at that. "Just promise me that we'll go and make a party on the way to Volterra, I'm dying for a real party with dancing and booze and eye fucking people and shit like that."

"Deal."

~o.O.o~

"I compelled the stewardess on the way in," Kol grinned as they found their seats. "She'll make sure we get plenty of alcohol our way. For free."

"I want to learn how to compel people," Bella said as she sat down between Myriam, who was sitting at the window, and Kol, who had taken the aisle seat. "Is it easy?"

"Of course, it is, darling," Kol smirked. "Just wait until everyone's seated and the plane's in the air, and then we shall begin your lessons. We have ten hours to kill anyway."

"Oh merde," Myriam muttered as she covered her face with her hands. "This isn't going to go well."

Kol huffed. "It's better that she learns in a controlled environment."

"We're on a plane."

"Don't worry, darling, we're leaving the pilots alone, we won't crash," he grinned and settled in his seat. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun. He was going to teach Bella everything he knew, away from his family. Niklaus had no reason to get angry with him because it was him who had left his girlfriend behind to take care of herself.

She hadn't spoken to Klaus after making the threat a couple of days ago and sighed, looking at Kol. "It's obvious that you're merriment of the prophecy and Klaus is the officer. You reckon he feels stronger after turning me?"

"I suppose, he does seem to be having fun with Hayley taking out those Kingmaker facilities," Kol replied, resulting in Bella scowling. "He does seem to pick up on your stronger emotions as I do. But, aside from that, there's nothing he can do about it because he left and now we're off to Europe."

"Even you telling him that didn't bring him back," she said with a pout as she lay her head on his shoulder. "I understand the whole idea of disappearing, but I could have gone to him, you know."

"And what? Miss out on killing Cold Ones?"

"No, but I miss him. I hate him, I understand him, and I miss him. On top of that, I haven't had sex for a couple of days, and I'm on edge."

Kol let out a breath. "We're fortunate that you got your emotions under control so fast, I don't know what I'd have done if you'd-"

"It's simple, just have sex with me," Bella shrugged. "Sex is sex."

"So when you and Nik… that's… what?"

"More than sex," Bella said with a wide grin, still with her head on Kol's shoulder. "Perfection, oh, I can't wait to do it with him now everything is so… heightened. But sex? You and I can have sex. Non-committed sex."

Kol blinked at that. "I thought you said you have yourself under control?"

"I do. And who are you to lecture me on sexuality? No doubt you've had your fair share of whores and other… conquests in your day?" She sat up again once the plane started to move. Looking at him with a big grin on her face she shrugged. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"Because I know my brother, and he'll dagger me if I'd sleep with you."

"Oh, sleeping with me is fine. That's just us in bed together, doing nothing. Sex, however, will be the death of you," she grinned. "He's not here, is he? I told him that I wouldn't have sex with other men for money anymore, but you're not just any man, and you won't be paying me for my services."

Kol let out a strangled sound and looked at Myriam. "Say something."

"Honestly, I can't," she replied with a small smile on her face. "If anything, I'm the least qualified to say something about this seeing as Klaus and I have been friends with benefits for so long, and I'm now with Elijah." She then let out a deep breath as the plane started to taxi to the runway. "But, if I should say something about this… I think it's in both of your best interests if you'd just don't have sex with each other. Control your hormones, Bella; you'll see Klaus again soon enough."

She grumpily crossed her arms over her chest and decided to focus on the feeling of killing Cold Ones instead. It worked, it made her feel all warm and tingly inside while she imagined what she'd do with them. Would a bat work on them? Like, swing hard enough that their heads get severed from their torsos? Or maybe fishing wire? Chase them into running into it, would that slice them open so much that their venom would pour out of their bodies and all she had to do was ignite it?

She was jostled out of her thoughts when Kol gripped her arm, hard, his face changing into his true face and his breathing was labored. "Hungry and I can't stop, Bella… I…" The plane took off then, the sheer force knocking the air out of her lungs as she kept an eye on him. With him not pulling her arm to his face, she wasn't sure what to do now.

As the plane rose, they went out of the city limits and Kol started to whimper in pain, at first, before it became a loud cry for help. His skin turned gray, his veins purple and Bella pulled him towards her with her other arm, his face in the crook of her neck. "Drink, asshole," she whispered. "Stop scaring the locals…"

"It won't work; it won't work… Ahhh!"


	34. Fast Food

When Kol managed to bite down on her and take her blood, his cries of pain subsided, his body stopped shaking, and he had started to relax again. She soothingly caressed his back while a quiet little moan escaped her lips, making Kol suck even harder. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear Myriam explain to other people around them that Kol was a terrible flyer and that his sister was the only person who could soothe him.

Kinda made sense - it also dampened Bella's mood significantly. There was no way she was going to have sex with a sibling. That was just gross. And here she wanted to join the mile high club…

Kol's mouth and teeth disappeared from her neck, and he immediately had his phone out to call Vincent. "You're going to find out if the Ancestors did something to me, right now!" He hissed in the phone.

"I can't believe you used those two words - the equivalent of a bucket of cold water - to ruin the mood," Bella muttered to Myriam as she used her sleeve to wipe the blood off her neck.

"He said no, you have to let it go," Myriam reprimanded her before waving her phone around, it had quietly been buzzing with a phone call from Klaus. "No doubt he felt what you were feeling, and I have to explain to him that his brother sucked blood out of your neck and that you liked it."

"Please don't," Bella muttered again and reached for her bag to get her iPad out and started to list the many ways she could kill a Cold One. Even doing some research online through the plane's wifi to see how much force it'd need for a baseball bat to cut steel, and if it's impossible, what would cut it with ease?

Myriam had been right, was right. Kol said 'no'. He agreed a few times, but it was mostly 'no'. Kol was with Davina, and he was really trying hard to be on his best behavior for her, so it was likely that all the wild stories she had heard from Klaus were over. And it wouldn't be fair towards Klaus if she'd have sex with Kol, either. No matter how angry she was with him, no matter how horny she felt, she couldn't give in to the feelings.

It was her and her hand. And maybe a vibrator she'd buy as soon as she could. Refocusing her energy on the prospect of ridding the world of Cold Ones seemed to work, for now. She'd have to find a different coping mechanism once that wouldn't work anymore. Control herself. Not act like a horny teenager.

Sighing, she held out her hand to take Myriam's phone and called Klaus; the wifi made it so that it was free - despite her being a modern girl, she still hadn't really gotten the hang of the more technologically advanced phones because she never had one. She was going to learn eventually. It was time they'd speak about this, even if they were on the plane to Italy. She had to know how much he felt and how bad it was.

" _Why do I have the feeling that I need to shag the closest person to me at the moment with that person being the mother of my child?"_ Bella could hear Klaus' scowl as he spoke.

"I'm sorry," she sighed.

" _Bella! I thought Myriam was calling me. Didn't they give you your own phone?"_

"It's still in its box in the bedroom. And just because I'm calling you doesn't take away the fact that I'm still angry."

A sigh on the other end of the phone. " _What is going on?"_

"I don't know; it's one of the reasons why we're going to Italy. Or maybe even Greece to find out more, but what I figure is that what's currently happening is the cosmic power of two prophecies and nature trying to work hard to balance things out," Bella looked at Kol, who was still on the phone to Vincent. She could hear Vincent say words like 'ancestors' and 'balance' and 'you're fucked'. "It seems like the Ancestors wanted to use Kol to kill Davina, but he accidentally bit me and got some of my blood inside and that urge disappeared. When we left New Orleans, he started to desiccate and once again, my blood saved him."

Klaus let out a low growl. " _I understand the Ancestors' reasoning but why does nature have to screw you over? You're not a walking blood bag, Bella. Next time you feed him, it'll be from a cup!"_

"We'll see. I was merely calling to ask how much you feel and how much strength you've gained."

" _I do feel as if I have my entire sire line back,"_ Klaus admitted. " _Not that a sire line gives you actual, physical power, but… As for what I feel… I never knew you felt all of this, Bella. It's difficult to put in words…"_

"You still doubt me?"

" _I've never doubted you, love. I have treated you poorly, and it's… well, Camille would say to 'walk a mile in someone else's shoes' to feel what the other person feels. I feel that now."_

"Good."

" _Although I could have done without the new vampire emotion roller coaster raging through my body."_

"Suck it up, I'm working on it," she muttered. "I'll try to deflect as much as I can."

" _Very well. I notice that Elijah has sent Myriam with you to chaperone you and Kol?"_

"Bad idea?"

" _Do keep an eye on her, you know what she's like when she gets high on blood. I do not wish for her to have sex with a third Mikaelson."_

"Of course," Bella replied with a smile, looking at Myriam, who had heard what Klaus had said and was rolling her eyes. "Anything else?"

" _Kol is the worst vampire to learn from."_

"Got it."

" _I mean it, love, I don't want him to corrupt you."_

"Says the man who left me in his care, good job," she remarked sarcastically. "You should have thought about that before. Have fun with Hayley and Hope. I'm going to have fun in Europe," she said before disconnecting the call. She could feel her anger rise again and after handing the phone back to Myriam, she realized she'd shattered her iPad. "Oh great."

"I'm screwed," Kol said after disconnecting his call to Vincent. "Be ready to keep serving me blood, Bella, the Ancestors didn't let me go without a goodbye present."

"We'll buy you a sippy cup at the airport," she retorted and put the iPad back into her bag. She wasn't going to throw it out just yet. She needed to make sure that all of her data was saved somewhere and then, only then, she'd wreck it completely. She wished she could talk to Klaus more often after he left. Granted, she was still incredibly pissed at him, but talking to him calmed her down. Relaxed her. Centered her. Reminded her that she was a stupid little girl with her girl crush. She was going to do better. For Klaus.

~o.O.o~

She held true to her word and bought a sippy cup at the airport in Rome, only to fill it with her blood in the bathroom and handed it to Kol with a smile on her face. Much to his dismay, he started to drink from it, and Myriam snuck in a picture to send to Klaus and Elijah. Kol had taught her to compel people on the plane, and it was fun making the other passengers so something innocent; like cluck like a chicken or make out with their significant others.

They acquired a beautiful convertible car to travel in; it was big enough for the three of them and for the luggage they were going to get in the city. Not that they needed much; sleep was optional, and while camping out in a tent sounded great to Bella, neither Kol or Myriam liked it, and they'd stay in a hotel or a home when needed.

It was only less than four hours to drive to Volterra from the airport, but as they also wanted to go to Greece, to the coven that Kol had encountered and that came up with the Traveler prophecy, they were going to need that car. And a few changes of clothes. Myriam was still happy with her brought luggage, but Bella wanted to shop. Shopping in Rome. She'd never done that, and shopping made her happy. New clothes for a new girl. She got a few tight fitting shirts, but nothing too restricting, same with her pants. Comfy shoes.

When they passed a lingerie shop, both she and Myriam insisted they'd buy some new sexy lingerie if only to make it harder on Kol, but mostly to surprise Klaus and Elijah. Italian pizza for dinner. Bella fell in love with the Italian pizza. It was so good. One of the good things about being a vampire was that she didn't have to watch what she was eating anymore.

And then there was the gelato. Bella didn't care that both Kol and Myriam thought that she went a little overboard with the cravings, but she just wanted to indulge. Who knew how long they were going to be there? At least their little trip into town was fruitful; they had a shipping company come to the castle in a day or two to pack up stuff that they wanted to keep before torching the place.

When the sun started to set, they continued their trip from Rome to Volterra; it would take about four hours and Bella was pretty sure that they were going to encounter some Cold Ones on the way there; the Volturi were strong, but they weren't idiots. Of course they'd have some lackeys close by to protect them when the guard couldn't.

Kol was more than happy to give Bella a history lesson on Volterra; despite the Cold Ones' presence, it was also a prominent place in European history. Bella eventually just refilled Kol's sippy cup with her blood and handed it to him to shut him up. "You don't think I've heard the stories before?"

"Oh, right," Kol apologized. "Sorry about that."

"I've also been there already, although I wish I hadn't," she sighed as she threw her legs over the side of the car and relaxed in the back seat as they drove. "I should never have saved that fucker."

"And then what? You'd probably be a walking disco ball right now," Kol said with a shrug as he took a swig from his cup. "Feeding off animals, yuck."

"Unlike us, they don't lose strength if they feed on animals. They only think it's more humane to eat animals instead of humans. However, those are just a few of them. Most of them do eat humans. Like the Volturi."

"And you didn't need to tell me that."

"Good, oh, stop the car!" Bella felt freezing all of a sudden while they were passing through a small village. Kol had opted to avoid the main road and do some sightseeing while they were at it, and while she had felt cold for a while now, she currently felt it the strongest. Bella was hungry, she could smell the humans in the village, all cozy in their beds, well, most of them. They wouldn't be able to enter the houses, but the Cold Ones were on the prowl, she could feel it, and unlike them, they didn't need an invitation to enter the homes of the villagers.

On the other hand, these Cold Ones could be living in the village. In any case, they needed to be destroyed. She climbed out of the car and started to run. She encountered the first Cold One, sitting on a porch as still as a statue, occasionally blinking. It was funny how it all worked; she couldn't quite explain it, but it was as if there was this built-in navigation system inside her mind telling her where to go. As long as they were close, she would be able to find them.

She pulled the female off her chair by the neck and wrestled with her. The Cold One didn't even know what was going on, which was great because Bella wasn't one of the best hand to hand fighters, but she knew what to hit and where. It helped that her daddy had been a cop and that the A-Squad helped her quite a lot as well. She was a lot stronger as a vampire, a Singer, and when she took out the Denali, she was surprised on how strong she was.

Combined with her anger, her rage, she was able to tear off their heads or tear them in half, and it was as frightening as it was empowering.

When the vampire was on the floor, dismembered and leaking venom, Kol and Myriam finally found her and looked somewhat in shock, especially Myriam who had not seen the carnage in the Bayou. "We need to find a wheelbarrow; it'll be easier to put them all in there and make a beautiful fire," Bella told Kol as she kicked down the door of the house and she was surprised she could enter the home. "Huh."

Kol followed her, but couldn't enter and neither could Myriam. "Must be that bloody Cold One venom inside of you," he said sourly. "Not fair."

She smirked as she looked over her shoulder. "Hungry?"

"Famished," he replied playfully as he watched her go deeper into the house before her head popped up from above them through a window. "What are you doing?"

"Catch!" She said as she opened the window even further and then pushed out a half naked, half asleep, human for Kol to catch and sink his teeth in.

"Bella!" Myriam was appalled when Kol caught the quiet human and sunk his teeth into his neck. Sure, it was great that Bella had learned how to compel people, but this was simply… unlike her.

"What?" Bella peeked out the window. "I'm merely making sure they're not hiding any Cold Ones and am having a snack! Want a human?"

"No!"

Shrugging, Bella moved away from the window and sunk her teeth into the wife of the man she'd thrown out to Kol and felt how the yummy coppery substance went down her throat like a fine wine. To be honest, maybe this woman had a few wines before going to bed, but it was nice. A nice little buzz made things easier. As the woman died in her arms, Bella had a brilliant thought. Since the woman was taking some time to die, Bella impatiently snapped her neck and peered out the window. "You should be able to come in now, and I have a great idea!"

"What's that?" Kol watched as Bella used the stairs' railing as a slide with a big smile on her face.

"Hunt the Cold Ones in this village and feed on all the people. I'm so hungry, so incredibly hungry and I want them all."

He nervously looked over to Myriam and swallowed hard. While he had quite the appetite himself, not caring about who he killed and why - not even using them all for food, this sounded too much as if Bella was a ripper. And Klaus wouldn't like that. "Darling, how about you just focus on the Cold Ones and only feed when necessary?"

"You're one to talk about moderation," Bella huffed.

"I know you're angry, Cherie, but razing an entire village to the ground won't make you feel better," Myriam tried to reason as she saw the reservation on Kol's face. "You don't like killing innocent people and I can promise you that while it'll feel good to decimate this village, you will feel guilty about it soon enough and that could tear you apart."

"I can't fucking believe this," Bella shook her head. "I'm a vampire. I should behave like one; I want to behave like one, and now mom and dad are trying to limit my experience? Please," she countered before speeding off and rounding up all the Cold Ones, reluctantly leaving the humans alone.

Damn right, she was angry. She was mad at everything and everyone. The Cold Ones were the source of her being unable to live a normal life - mainly the Cullens and the Volturi, but she was going to kill them all. She was angry with Klaus, still, for leaving her alone while she was vulnerable. She was mad at him for leaving her in the care of his brothers and his former shag, Bella's former boss, and friend. She was angry with herself, for allowing Klaus to go ahead with his little plan to seduce Aurora and that that had involved sex. She was mad at herself for thinking that she wasn't any better than anyone else. Bella was angry with herself for not allowing herself to have a voice. She mattered.

She fucking mattered.

As she lit the small pile of corpses - she was certain she had found every Cold One in the village as she felt less hungry and not cold anymore. Bella came to the conclusion that while Myriam came along to Italy was to keep an eye on her and Kol - and Kol coming along for his own personal agenda, she didn't actually have to listen to them. She could do whatever the fuck she wanted and should she get caught by humans; a mere compulsion would do the trick. It was highly unlikely that people were on vervain here.

And fuck them all, she was allowed to have a little fun! Klaus had been right, somewhat. She put all the unwanted feelings into anger, and it made her feel stronger, more powerful. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. Even snap Myriam's neck if that meant for her to be free. She could hardly snap Kol's neck as he needed her blood on regular intervals to stop him from desiccating but fuck them all.

Then again, Kol was an Original and would likely get up quicker than Myriam. As the plan formed in her mind, a big grin appeared on her face.

After appreciating the bonfire for a couple of minutes, she walked back to the car and filled Kol's sippy cup with her blood. She wasn't a savage; she knew he was still topped up on her blood, and he wouldn't need anything by the time he'd wake up again, but just in case. She didn't want to accidentally kill Klaus' favorite brother.

Yes, she was a new vampire and yes, she probably had a lot to learn, but she wanted to be on her own for a while. Do whatever she wanted for… probably ten hours, until she'd have to find Kol again to give him more blood. Twelve hours, if she stretched it enough. While she didn't want to take away his fun - and she likely wasn't going to, she did need some time on her own. Volterra was close by, and she wanted to see how fast she could actually run. And then start killing everyone in the village.

Everyone.

The worshippers had to go. Maybe she'd compel one or two people to take care of the children and forget all about the Volturi; have them move away and stuff, but that place was going to burn. Whether everyone liked it or not. It would be a bold statement; having killed the Volturi AND taken away the seat of power. It would throw the Cold Ones in a tizzy, and it would be so much more fun to take them all out, and see who came out on top before Bella would kill them too.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Myriam asked as she watched the young vampire place the sippy cup back in the glove box of the car.

Myriam was standing too close. And while the vampire was older, Bella had the advantage; the element of surprise, something she wouldn't have with Kol, but she'd figure it out. Turning around, Bella snapped her neck and put her friend's limp body in the car. "I'm going for a run."


	35. What happens in Europe, stays in Europe

"Morning, darling, how was your nap?"

When Bella opened her eyes, she was staring into the face of Kol who had a big grin on his face. He had snapped her neck, figures. She sighed as she sat up, finding the car absent from Myriam, in fact, this wasn't the car they had rented. "Huh."

"Quite the stunt you pulled, Bella," he said disapprovingly before pulling a woman into the car and pushed it in her lap. "I like it. Now eat."

"I'm not hungry," she muttered as she pushed the woman away from her and wrinkled her nose. "What is going on?"

"Myriam was cramping our style so I sent her home," he nonchalantly pushed the woman out of the car and smirked. "But I've done some thinking while you were out and you have to understand our concern; when vampires like us generally want to slaughter an entire village for fun usually means that they're rippers and it's hard to come back from that."

"I know," Bella said annoyed. "But I'm not like you."

"No, and I know that too, you're still something we need to figure out and how can we do that when we restrict your movements?" he ruffled her hair. "Bella, we are in Europe and far far away from my siblings and our babysitter now gone. From now on, it's just you and me. I would have gone back with Myriam but I'm kind of in need of your blood if I want to survive the trip home."

She liked this idea. "And how do I know you're not lying? Tricking me? Making me think that all is fine but when you're afraid that I'll lose control or my sanity that you'll snap my neck again?"

He held up his phone and made sure she was looking at it before crushing it with his hand. "No strings."

She cocked her head. "I don't believe you, I mean, that could have been Myriam's phone or one you lifted of someone." She couldn't believe him, he was the trickster. He was smart. If he truly wanted to control her, this would be one of the ways he could; luring her into a false sense of security.

"But that was my phone," he said as he got out of the car and opened the door for her. "But you're more than welcome to pat me down, darling," he said cheekily as he helped her out. Once she was out the car, he spread his legs and arms and looked at her. "Well?"

"Strip search?" Bella eyed him through her lashes as she licked her lips. He was going to allow her to touch him?

"Without the actual stripping, yes. Also, hands in the safe places."

She pouted as she looked him over, deciding where to strike first. "You're no fun."

"That's also one of the reasons I sent the nanny away. From now on, no holding back. No restrictions. You want to ruin an entire village? We'll raze it. You want to eat people? Hell, we'll eat people. You want to nap? We'll nap."

"Seriously?"

"No rules. Well; just one."

"No sex."

"No sex," he agreed, still standing with his arms out and his legs spread, waiting for her to pat him down. "And no touching in any sexual way."

Bella's mind started to race as she placed her hand on his shoulder and gingerly, teasingly, ran it down his arm before running it back up again as she hummed. "There are ways to get what I want and it will be beneficial for us both," she said in a sultry voice, tiptoeing around him as she ran her hands over his body - avoiding the not-safe zones as he requested. Even through the fabric of his clothes she could feel how toned his body was, how different from Klaus' body and how much she wanted it.

He swallowed hard, she was getting turned on. He noticed it by how she was looking at him, but, deep down, he could feel it as well. And if he could feel it… what would his brother feel right now? Too bad he broke the phone. Yes, it was his. Perhaps it was a stupid thing to do, but after talking to Myriam about Bella while she was rounding up the Cold Ones in the village prior, he realized that this girl hasn't had experienced true freedom in a very long time.

It was likely that the last time she truly felt free was prior to her encounter with the Cullens and that was just not right. Ever since meeting them, she'd been controlled or on the run; her fight or flight mode acting as her restraint. Then hiding at Débauche and from there, straight into the arms of the most powerful being on this earth; Niklaus Mikaelson.

Kol wasn't going to say no to her anymore. At least not while they were here. And as long as they stuck to the one rule, he was certain that they would still be alive when they got home to his brother. No hearts removed or daggers inserted into anyone. So what was she going on about? Oh, her desire felt good; so flattering, his ego being stroked by her interest in him. And then there was the actual physical touching; her nimble hands felt good on him as she felt around for his phone.

And since she was so hyper-sexual, maybe it would be a good thing to just have sex with her or something, to get it out of her system. To make the desire stop messing with both their heads. Damnit, this was just a pat down and she was making it into something sexual.

She squatted down and ran her finger up the inside of his leg, stopping right before the no-fly zone. Oh, he was interested alright. Her eyes flicked up to his before looking back at his package and back at his face. A playful smile appeared on Bella's face as she rose and pushed her hair back. "No phone detected, very good," she approved before she walked back to the car. "You can relax now," she added as she looked in the trunk to see if Kol took her bag with him as he stole the car to get them to this village.

It was still dark but the sun would come up soon and it wasn't as if they were parked in the middle of the village. It seemed to her that they were somewhere behind a barn or something and it was enough privacy. Not that she wouldn't mind giving a show, it would be hot. Very hot. A show before breakfast. She just wasn't sure what Kol would think about that. No, this first. Maybe a show later, depending on his response.

"Oh, very good!" She said cheerfully as she found her bag and opened it to get something to play with - later. Putting it somewhere she could easily reach it, Bella could start. Making her way back to Kol, she could see that he eyed her with lustfilled eyes. Oh, men were so easy. She placed her index finger on his chest and pushed him against the car as she kept her eyes locked on his.

What was she doing? His mind raced as fast as the blood was pumping through his body to his cock. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, he wanted to fuck her, hard, and the no sex rule seemed to be so stupid right now. Whatever happened in Europe, stayed in Europe, right? Remembering he had a voice, he swallowed hard. "What are you doing?"

"Quiet," she commanded as she took a step back and slowly removed her shirt, throwing it at him when she was out, revealing her upper body, her breasts tucked in a black, lacy bra. Bella's enhanced hearing picked up on the hitch in Kol's breath, it was adorable. He didn't have to watch her, he could leave if he wanted to, but something told her that he was nailed to the ground.

Bella ran her hands through her hair, brushing her long locks away from the front of her body, revealing more skin before slowly brushing her skin with her fingertips. Oh, she loved this feeling. She hadn't had sex yet after turning, but when she masturbated in the Bayou, she found it fascinating how easily her body was being able to set on fire by the slightest touch. Every nerve ending responded to her own touch, she could only imagine what it'd feel like if Klaus would touch her like this. Or Kol, but he had made it clear that the rule was no sex.

She was going to see how long that would last.

Bella avoided taking off her bra, just yet, she wanted to last a little longer and the sheer thought of rubbing her nipples until they were hard and tender made them just that. Placing her flat hands on her stomach, she started to sway her hips a little, Kol still standing on his spot, frozen in curiosity and lust. "Lose your shirt," she said as her fingers slid down her stomach and into her jeans. She waited with starting the process of removing the burden of wearing her jeans until Kol would actually move, but he was too enthralled. "Kol," she said sternly, demanding his attention. "Lose your shirt."

"No, I'm good," he said huskily. "I might do something stupid if I lose my clothing."

"Like what?" She said playfully, taking a step forward and placed her hands on his shirt as she looked up to him. "I doubt it would be that stupid."

"I might break the rules."

"Rules are meant to be broken," she purred as she tiptoed and nipped at his chin. "But you're right, this rule can't be broken." Bella then tore open his shirt and janked it off of him. "I promise you, you'll enjoy yourself without breaking the rule." She resisted the urge to touch him further, it was not what she'd set out to do and even though his toned torso with his bulging arms were inviting her to touch them, she bit her lip instead as her eyes met his again as she took a step back to start shedding her jeans. "But please, do tell me what you'd do to break the rule…"

He watched as the jeans dropped to the ground and she stepped out of it as if she was as light as a feather. Her underwear matched perfectly and god, she was gorgeous. His brother was so lucky. Oh, yeah. Downer. Then again, when had it ever stopped him? Leaning against the car, Kol's eyes followed her every movement. Every sway of the hip got registered, every muscle spasm, every little noise that escaped her lips. Bella really knew what she was doing and it was driving him insane. "I uh… I'd rip off your knickers, throw you on the hood of the car and I'd fuck you senseless."

"You're a thousand years old and _that_ is what you can come up with?" Bella wasn't impressed at all. "What are you? A virgin?"

"You're kinda putting me on the spot here, darling," he said with a slight chuckle. "That's what my brain wants right now, why should I become creative?"

Bella let out a deep sigh. "Fine, you can shut up again, you're spoiling the mood."

"But-"

"Shush!" She said with a slight growl as she turned away from him, her hands on the small of her back and moving down to her ass. It was typical male though, a brain that stopped working once something exciting was about to happen. And in all honesty, Bella found that endearing. Squeezing her asscheeks after giving them a good rub, she bent over and looked at Kol over her shoulder. "Wouldn't it be great to tear away my panties and plunge right in?"

"Or just leave them on and do just that…"

Bella smirked. "Remove your pants," she said as she slowly straightened herself up again, giving herself a proper spank with her flat hand when she came back up. "Oh yeah, that feels so good…" Stretching her arms above her head before burying her hands in her long locks of hair again, she turned on the balls of her feet and was astounded by her sense of balance. There was no way she could have done this before turning into a vampire. Who knew? Maybe she was even a better dancer now!

When she had turned back to him, she was surprised that he had, indeed, lost his pants and revealed himself. "Commando, I approve," she said as she licked her lips. He was massive and ready and oh, she wished she could go on her knees for him and take him in her mouth, sucking him dry and swallowing him whole. She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. No sex, no touching him in a sexual matter. No sex… no- She took another deep breath and opened her eyes again, her hands unhooking her bra and with a shrug, she let them fall to the floor. "I kinda feel a little overdressed now." Running her hands over her breasts, she let out a moan. "Oh, so good…"

He had seen her naked before, briefly, and that was only because it came as a surprise to the both of them, but seeing her naked now was something completely different. Bella was consciously naked in front of him and he infront of her. She was in tune with her body, the way she caressed every pleasure spot, the way she moved her fingers over her breasts, her beautiful shaped breasts… And she was already wet. He could smell her arousal. Kol could focus and envision her dripping onto the ground but he wasn't going that far. It'd drive him only more nuts.

"Don't you want to touch yourself, Kol?" She asked playfully, taking a nipple between her thumb and index finger and gently squeezed it before squeezing a little harder and she moaned again when she felt the waves of pleasure build up in her body, licking at the nerve ends before ebbing away again. Bella wanted more. "I would love to see your hand on your cock as you squeeze and rub it up and down… up and down…"

He let out a groan as he watched her touch herself, enjoying herself as the only thing she was seeing was him. She was so sexy, so hot. His hand went to his cock and started to stroke it. Yeah, he needed to let loose as much as she did. And he wasn't going to stop her, no, no, definitely not. He was nearly salivating when she dipped her hand in her underwear with a cheeky smile on her lips and swallowed hard. She was good. She was damn good. Couldn't she just lose her knickers already?

No, that was right; no sex. Kol leaned against the car and let out a groan. His hand felt so good, and watching Bella made it even better. "Where are you going?" He asked her as she removed her hand from her knickers and walked to the boot of the car, where she had previously been lingering and digging in her bag. "Bella…"

"Just keep doing what you're doing," she said with a playful giggle and wiggled her behind, knowing that she was still being watched by him. She helped herself out of her slip and threw it at Kol's head, knowing how wet she was, and how the smell was, she knew that it was going to annoy the hell out of him, drive him crazy and he was going to hate his one rule. It was one of the fun parts of entertaining a vampire; their heightened senses.

Then again, her senses were pretty heightened as well and she could smell his arousal; his pre-cum already in the air and damn, she wanted to suck his cock so badly. She was going to drive the both of them mad with what she had planned, but she didn't care. And now that the both of them were phoneless, it wasn't as if they could get interrupted by a horny hybrid, either. Bella smirked. Mutual masturbation with his brother was the ultimate revenge.

When she returned, she was holding a dildo in her hands as if it was a trophy she'd won. The big smile on her face echoed that sentiment. "Keep that thing away from me," he said as he could feel his cock go limp in his hands. There was no way that she was going to tell him to use that on himself. No way.

"It's not for you," she hopped onto the hood of the car and eyed his cock for a moment before raising her gaze back to him. "But just imagine what it would feel like… my lips on your cock…" Bella kissed the dildo in her hand. "Giving it a lick… a nibble…"

Humming, she turned on the hood and used the windshield as support, continuing paying attention to the dildo in her hand and her other hand traveled down to her core to play with herself, still looking at the other vampire, who had now turned and was hungrily drinking in the sight before him. And, just like that, his cock was back in action. "Are you liking what you see?"

"Very much so," he replied huskily and then his eyes widened when she put the object in her mouth and started to suck it. _Oh God._ He didn't even have to imagine what it'd feel like if she had her lips on his cock, sucking it, because his head was already there. He kept stroking himself, tugging on occasion and watched her enjoy herself immensely. Her whole body was into it, writhing as she helped herself, making soppy and moaning noises as she sucked on the dildo.

Kol wanted to jump onto the hood of the car and plunge right into her.

Bella let out a slight giggle when she removed the dildo from her mouth and looked at the vampire. "How close are you?"

"Ugh."

"Now… just imagine what it'd feel like to have your hot, hard cock in my pussy," she said in a low voice before pressing the dildo against her opening. "Pushing me wide open… Filling me up, stretching me…" Bella let out a moan as she pushed the object in further. "Making me feel your heartbeat through your dick… Kol, I'm so wet. I'm so ready for more, are you?"

He let out a strangled noise. "If you stop now…"

"You'll have to finish off yourself," Bella grinned and looked at him. Oh, he was gone. "You're hopeless."

"Are you going to continue or what?"

Bella hummed as she shifted a little before moving the dildo inside of her. "Imagine what it would feel like to thrust your big, hard cock inside of me, Kol… slow… or perhaps long and hard? Faster? Slower?" She gasped and arched her back when she hit a particularly sensitive spot with the object and moaned when she it hit again. "And at the same time, your hand on my breast, squeezing the soft little ball while my nipple gets caught between your thumb and finger… ohh, that feels so good, Kol."

It didn't take long for the both of them to be in sync with each other as he kept listening to her audio narration of what he could be doing to her and she to him and he quickly came as he kept watching her tilt herself over the edge. It was glorious. So damn good and he couldn't believe how lucky he was for having experienced this. It was almost as good as sex. Almost. But damn, it had been so hot.

"So," she panted as she floated back to earth. "Next stop, Volterra?"


	36. Following the Yellow Brick Road

"I can't believe you've let her go," Klaus fumed as he dumped his bag on the lounge seat in the courtyard. "With Kol? She's alone with Kol?"

"She's in capable hands," Elijah responded calmly. "While they were gone, are gone, Freya, Marcel and I have taken care of Tristan. There is nothing to worry about on that front anymore, we should now focus on finding a cure for our darling sister."

"Did you have fun hunting, brother?" Freya asked with an amused smile on her face. Myriam had returned only a few hours prior and she had informed her and Elijah everything that had happened in Italy. Of course, now that she had more time on her hands, Freya was going to try and find out what, exactly, had happened when Bella turned.

While the emotional link to Klaus would be explainable, seeing as he turned her and the prophecy said that she'd give him more strength, the link to Kol was still somewhat of a mystery. Granted, everything concerning magic was about balance. She also knew that nature had her funny ways in maintaining that balance and perhaps this was her way of messing with her family. Kol needed Bella's blood to stop wanting to kill his girlfriend - a hex the Ancestors put on him when Davina resurrected him, and she had to feed Kol her blood to stop him from desiccating because he went across city limits. No other blood worked.

Elijah had said that Niklaus wasn't going to like it that those two were now left alone in Europe without supervision after sending Myriam home. Petrova women were known to like two brothers at the same time - although Freya was sure that Bella was far away removed to even consider her a Petrova, and it was a possibility that Bella might fall for Kol. Or the other way around. Or… perhaps she'd even leave him for the younger version.

Which was ridiculous. The girl was loyal to a fault. And now that she was a vampire, Bella was probably quite the force to be reckoned with, too. No, it hadn't been one of the wisest ideas to send the girl off with the wildest brother, but to contain her here with everything that was going on? No, it had been better to send her off to tend to her own problems. She would have demolished the building, if not worse.

While it could have been interesting to watch an unknown hybrid, or tribrid, species flourish and come into her own, Freya and Elijah both thought it would be better to let her go; they could deal with an angry hybrid, but not with an unknown who used to be so passive.

"Have you figured out yet why, for some reason, I am linked to Bella?" Klaus growled as he walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink. On the way back he had to leave the car for getting very excited and turned on by images of Bella touching herself and playing with herself and he had to relieve himself to make sure that the rest of the trip would be a bit more pleasant.

And yes, it could either be the prophecy or magic itself or even, god forbid, a sirelink. He simply wanted a definitive answer so that something could be done about it. Klaus had adjusted to most of her feelings; she was angry and quite so. It only fuelled him to fight harder, to destroy more and, much to Hayley's delight, he tore down all of the Kingmaker buildings. Well, not by hand, of course. After killing the humans and disposing of them, they looked for information of value and then they'd witness a demolition crew utilize their giant wrecking balls to level the buildings.

Of course, all illegal. Compulsion was amazing, even after a thousand years, he was still impressed that it was so damn easy to compel ordinary humans. There was nothing wrong with having a little fun on a serious business outing.

And now that they were back home, all he had to focus on was to kill his enemies that were still coming for him, but his family was safe. No more prophecies. And he had believed he could help Bella with her trouble now, but she was already gone. He still didn't like it that she upped and left to go after some Cold Ones with his lunatic of a brother, but there was nothing that he could do about it, short of taking the next flight out and follow the trail of bodies to get to her.

Klaus was still waiting for answers when his brother's cellphone rang and Elijah cracked a wide smile when he answered.

"Mr. Aro Volturi, how lovely of you to call, how are you? …. Oh, I'm so terribly sorry. Of course, we have an understanding. Had I known that our brother Kol would travel to Volterra… yes, of course I would have informed you of such a thing… He's killing your followers? Well, I would help you if I could, but my brother's phone has been out of service for a few days now and… yes, yes, of course, invite him for a little chat. However, I must inform you that it's not he you should be worried about. I believe his travel companion is slightly more deranged than he is… those were your words, not mine. In any case, I wish you the best of luck with him and his companion. Should you manage to apprehend them, I shall personally collect them." Elijah disconnected the call and his grin grew even wider. "It seems that our brother and your girlfriend have finally gotten the attention of the Volturi."

Klaus let out a breath of relief. "Good. Let me call Kol and -"

"Didn't you hear what I said to that Cold One? I haven't been able to reach Kol for a couple of days now. They've disappeared. Well… we know they're in Volterra now, but who knows what they'll do after this?"

"She'd better come back!"

"She will, brother," Freya said soothingly. "Although I'm afraid that she'll want to deal with her problems head first, make sure that there's nothing left for her to do when she returns. Would you like me to send her a message?"

He snarled before grabbing his bag off the sofa. "What of those bloody Cullens?"

"It seems that they're in hiding, for now. I can't find them anywhere in the city."

"We're going to find them and round them up. Contain them until Bella comes back as a welcome home present," he said determined before taking the stairs to his bedroom.

~o.O.o~

As it turned out, the mutual, but solo, _self care_ had worked wonders for the both of them. Bella didn't feel that much on edge anymore and it allowed the both of them to think more clear headed. Kol had to admit though; his brother was one lucky bastard. But no, the tension felt gone and the cobwebs were out of their heads.

They were about half way through the village before they'd finally gotten the attention of the Volturi guard. The compelling of the humans was so much fun, she and Kol really got creative at some point. The most fun part was to instill mass panic by telling them that there was a volcano just outside of Volterra, ready to blow and that it'd cover the entire city in ash. They were told to get as many citizens out of there, never to return.

Hilarity ensued; especially as there was no volcano and the ones who weren't compelled were trying to change the minds of those who were. It was highly entertaining, Kol and Bella just sat back in the middle of the square with a nice bottle of wine they had found in one of the houses. They had compelled a few others to provide the music during their mayhem and now one member of the Volturi guard was putting a stop to it.

"Mr. Mikaelson, my master wishes to speak to you," he commanded and Kol merely scoffed. "Please, as a gesture of good faith and peace, honoring the longstanding truce between the Volturi and the Originals."

"You guys have a truce?" Bella blinked at him. "I thought it was a mutual understanding."

"The Volturi like to believe it's a truce, they know that it doesn't take us a lot of effort to tear them apart if we want to."

"It takes you more effort than it does me," she smirked before jumping on the guard's back and tore off his ears, the sound of metal being grated echoed through the alley. She then hopped off the back and tore off his arm, running around the guy as he tried to catch her and she played tag using his arm to tag him.

Kol grabbed the man's good arm and jumped up to push himself off the torso to rip off the other arm. "Come on now Darling, don't play with your food."

"But it's fun," she pouted and hit the Cold One over the head with his loose arm. She then ripped off his head and sighed as she looked at Kol. "We're not going over there until we've had more fun. Decimating their followers is fantastic."

"Or, we could go there, surprise them that I listened for once, do our thing and then, when we still feel like it, we could kill all the humans. Or just set everything on fire and watch them run."

She sighed as she looked at him.

"Let's get ourselves somewhat presentable and let's go and see the wizard."

~o.O.o~

She could feel the coldness migrate towards one point; the castle, and this was a good thing, that meant that, if she got lucky, all the Cold Ones in Volterra would meet their death. Sure, it was fun to chase them down and kill them, but if it was possible to be lazy, then she choose to be that. Bella couldn't wait to see the look on Aro's face at the realisation at what she'd become.

And playing dress up was fun, too. She was wearing a flowery summer dress with some kickass high heels. Bella was still stunned that she could walk on those things now and she could even use them as a weapon now that her vampirism had given her superhuman strength. The time of falling over had passed.

"Look at you, all dressed as if you're going to a party," Kol said amused.

Grinning, Bella looped her arm through his and skipped a few steps. "But I am, Kol. After today, the Volturi will be no more and the Cold Ones will be rudderless, and we're going to kill them all."

"All?"

"Yep," she smiled up to him. "There's no doubt that they have some way of tracking their flock, or at least have a ledger with the approximate locations of them, and we're going after them. Or would you like to return to New Orleans after we're done here? I could drop you off and go back by myself?"

He looked at her for a moment and shook his head. "No, no, darling, it's not that easy to get rid of me," Kol replied with a smile. "Not when there's so much to be learned and so much to be killed."

"That's a deal then?"

"I'm not sure how Niklaus will respond to your absence."

Bella shrugged. "He'll get over it. If he desperately wants me, he can come hunt us down."

"I'm not sure if we'd want that, darling. He might keep you alive, but me?"

"If he daggers you, I'll shove a dagger up his ass," she said with a growl. "Anyway, when it's time to destroy the Volturi, go for their wives first. They can influence you to feel all at peace and shit. I know their gift doesn't work on me, but I'm not sure if they work on you. Then go for Jane. Again, her power doesn't work on me but she could inflict some serious pain."

"Jane… the tiny blonde thing?"

"You've met?"

He winced at the memory. "Once, yes, she and her brother are sparkly nuisances, so you bet your ass I'll be going after her first."

"No, the wives first," she said again. "I'm sure you can withstand a little pain."

"A little?" Kol blinked at her. "Do you have any idea how much pain she can inflict?"

"Oh, grow a pair, you're an Original."

~o.O.o~

The castle was cold, very cold. Despite snacking on a few humans on their way over, Bella couldn't get warm and on top of that, she could feel her rage build up inside of her again. Going against Klaus' wishes, she allowed Kol to take a bite out of her to make him feel better, and now that they were walking through the hallway after exiting the elevator she believed this was either the worst idea ever, or the best.

Worst case scenario; they'd hurt Kol pretty bad but they'd kill her. Yes, she was pretty indestructible now but she wasn't a Cold One - even though they weren't hard to kill - and she certainly wasn't an Original. They could kill her and then the world would have to wait for another singer to come along who survived for as long as she has and that could literally mean a thousand years.

Best case scenario; they were able to pull off what they came to do and be victorious. They'd tear the place apart for knowledge and send it home. An outcome Bella truly preferred over anything. She had a hybrid to come home to. She couldn't wait to put her hand around his balls and squeeze them. It only took a force of 22 pounds per square inch to pop a testicle, something she was well capable of doing right now.

She had the widest grin on her face as she looked up to Kol before opening the door. In all honesty, she wouldn't be surprised if he thought she was mad. You had to be a little bit crazy to deal with the Supernatural, right?

Just as expected, the hall was filled with Cold Ones and Bella could feel her insides turn to ice while a burning rage raged through her veins. The Volturi themselves were well hidden behind the guard, which was slightly disappointing. "Aro, how can we talk when you're hiding?" Bella pouted as she looped her arm through Kol's. "Are you that afraid of an Original vampire? Kol's harmless."

"How lovely of you to join us, Mr. Mikaelson," Aro greeted him as the Volturi guard parted and revealed him. "Your brother informed me you were travelling with a companion, where are they?"

Kol blinked at that remark. It was strange that he didn't see Bella on his arm, or heard her speak. Almost as if she was invisible. And, now that he thought about it, it made sense. How else would she have been able to sneak up on the Cold Ones, get the jump on them and kill them with ease? The one who had come to collect him and Bella only addressed Kol, not Bella, and only saw Bella when she ripped off the arm.

He looked at Bella and let out a playful giggle before pressing his finger to his lips and then looked at Aro. "I'll be sure to relay any message to my travel companion when you're letting me go. What can I do for you?"

"Of all the corners of the world, you decide to come to Volterra and kill our followers, why is that?"

"Oh, I've been meaning to come by for a chat," he said lightly as he drew a 'w' on Bella's hand, hoping she'd get the message. She merely smiled at him before removing herself from him and walked over to Aro, waving her hand in front of his face. She then stuck her tongue out to him and Kol had a hard time not to laugh. "I believe it's time you started to share your library of knowledge with our family."

Aro looked at the other members of the Volturi, Marcus and Caius, before they all, uncharacteristically started to laugh. Even members of the guard looked at their leaders as if they'd lost their marbles. Bella let out a snort as she weaved through the Cold Ones and found one of the wives. She didn't hesitate as she jumped on her and ripped off her head. A loud 'pop' drew all the Cold One's faces towards the falling body of the wife before they all turned back to Kol.

Caius was quick out of his seat to make his way over to his wife, causing Bella to jump back to avoid contact. It appeared that she, too, had discovered that the Cold Ones could only see her when she touched them, right before she'd kill them.

"You see," Kol started as he took a few steps forward. "Since you're obviously not keeping in touch with your history, I think that the knowledge you possess in your library will come to a better use in the hands of my family."

"Do not insult me, Mr. Mikaelson. Your family and mine have been civil towards each other for centuries," Aro said a little spooked. "And now you've killed one of ours."

Kol looked around him and saw that Bella was ready to pounce on the other wife. "Are you sure about that?"

Just as Aro turned, Sulpicia's body dropped too the floor and her head was flung towards him and he caught it. "My wife!"

"Stop what you're doing, right now!" the ever so quiet Marcus commanded as he rose from his chair, towering over Kol once he had crossed the space between them. "Because despite the agreement between our species, I will not hesitate to send you back to your family in pieces!"

Unfazed, Kol smirked at the taller vampire. "Unbelievable," he said eventually. "You lot are unbelievable. First, you spend years chasing after some girl because you want her dead for knowing about your kind, for her connection the Cullens, and you haven't even thought about her status? Surely, Aro, when you read young Edward's mind, or even Alice's mind, you found out that Bella was a singer to him?"

"My wife!" Aro said as he cradled his wife's head, not really knowing what he had to do with it. When it finally hit him that he should reattach his wife's head, her body burst into flames, set ablaze by a grinning Bella.

Kol loved the look on Bella's face. It was devious. Delirious and delicious. "Even I know that singers are dangerous for you. They don't get to live long enough, but what about those who do? Good call, by the way, to have everyone of importance present here today, it makes it a lot easier for my companion to do what she does best."

"Did young Isabella turn into another Carmen?" Caius asked as he straightened himself after reconnecting his wife's head to her body. "Did you turn her?"

"Oh, no, I didn't," Kol huffed. "My brother Niklaus did."

"Where is she?" Marcus demanded.

"Right…. There," Kol pointed at one of the special Volturi guard's members and watched as Bella ripped off his head before setting fire to his hair.

Corin was next, and then Jane and another female vampire in quick succession before Bella brushed up against Aro and grinned at him. "Hello Aro, are you prepared to follow your wife into eternal darkness? Are you ready to pay for your sins against humanity?"


	37. Comeback Queen

It took them almost a year to rid the world from the Cold Ones. As Bella had expected, the Volturi had kept a book of some sorts where they kept track of their flock, and while not entirely accurate, it was a great help.

Almost a year without any communication with Klaus apart from her sending him postcards from across the world. It had been just her and Kol as the best of friends, the terrible twosome who liked to cause mayhem and destruction. She didn't quite know if she should hate Klaus more for not coming to find her, but then again, time was different for immortals, wasn't it? It was probably her who was going to have to do some groveling to get back into his good graces.

She had expected Davina to pop up, but even she hadn't left New Orleans. At this point, Kol wasn't even sure if Davina was still alive, but Bella found it admirable that he had stuck to his 'no phone' thing. It was better this way, really. No interruptions, just them killing vampires and snacking on the human bad guys. No distractions. She wanted to be done as quick as they could get the job done; she wanted to be with Klaus.

Bella had significantly mellowed out now that she had made sure that only one Cold One family was around, although not for much longer. She wanted to stop by Forks, offering her friend Jake and his wolves the opportunity to do what they were built for, although Kol had a good argument as not to do it because they hadn't protected her from the coven in the first place.

She had countered that they tried, but she'd been too stubborn to listen and no, they weren't going to feed on humans while in the town.

"Why are we stopping here?" Kol asked as Bella parked the car at the side of the road and got out of the car. "Isn't the reservation that way?"

"Yes," she replied with a nod. "And had I been human, I would have kicked you out of the car and drove on to their land. Now, we have to wait for them to come to us," she opened the trunk of the car and retrieved some of the snacks they had picked up at the supermarket and set up for a picnic right on the treaty line. "Come, let's have something to eat."

"But you know these wolves, why don't you just…"

"Yes, I know them and despite their… shortcomings, I respect their ways. So should you. We're different vampires, remember? If we go barging in there, no matter who I am, they will kill me and send your parts to Klaus." Bella opened a bag of chips and then grinned. "Don't worry; you'll see the ponies soon."

"I don't like to be diplomatic."

"I know," Bella smiled at him, patting the ground next to her. "Come sit. There's no doubt that they'll look at us from a distance for a while to make sure that I am their Bella. It's been years, and maybe they thought I was dead or something." She popped a handful of chips in her mouth. "Did you get that phone working?"

"Yes, but we're not done yet," Kol sighed. "Why am I here again?"

A playful smirk appeared on her face as she popped another handful of chips in her mouth. "Because I could send you home on your own but you wouldn't survive the trip? Call whomever you want to. We're in the homestretch, Kol. We're nearly done. I'm nearly done."

"And then what?"

Bella shrugged. "If your brother hasn't changed his mind about me, I'll join him at his side. If he has…" she shrugged again as she opened a small bottle of wine and took a sip. "Well then, he'll have a problem because I'm not leaving. And I'm going back to work for Myriam. And not in the way of having sex with complete strangers, but helping with the books and bar and shit. I'm not going to sit around and be pretty."

"Nik will love it that you took out some of his enemies while taking care of your own troubles. You have nothing to be afraid of anymore," Kol validated. Over the course of the previous months he had seen her grow; even out emotion wise and become a stronger person. Of course, he hadn't known her that well before he came back but she wasn't made out of porcelain anymore. No longer fragile. There was no doubt that when faced with the Cullens, she wouldn't hesitate to kill them. She wouldn't be intimidated, and she wouldn't back down. "Will you help me find a more permanent cure for what's going on with me?"

She smiled at him. "I think the solution is simple."

A slight feeling of panic rose in his chest. "We're not going to kill Davina." One of the reasons he left with Bella to kill Cold Ones because of Davina. He didn't want to kill her; he wanted to escape the feeling of having to kill her. He still loved her very much. Even if she might have moved on in his absence and without proper communication.

"No, we're going to crush the Ancestors with every dark object and every spell that Davina and Freya can throw at them. The Ancestors are more trouble than they're worth, aren't they?" She took another sip of her wine. "Sure, the easiest way to go would to kill Davina but would that stop the Ancestors from meddling with the living? No."

"That will leave a lot of witches powerless."

She looked at him sternly. "I highly doubt that. Davina was cut off from the Ancestors but was still able to do magic. Same with Vincent. The Ancestors work by the same playbook as you and your siblings; instill enough fear that people will stay with you."

He smiled at that. They had spoken about this before, and it was a good thing that Bella wasn't wavering. She was a girl on a mission. "How much longer do we have to wait?"

"Not long," Bella said as she looked into the bag of chips and saw that it was empty. She got up with a sigh and took another step onto the Quileute land. "Come on boys; it's me."

She turned when she saw some rustling in the bushes and grinned. "Don't be shy now. I know it's been nearly a decade since we've last seen each other, but you'll be glad to know that my friend and I killed almost every Cold One in existence."

More rustling and a russet-colored nose.

"Jake! My god, what are you? Little children? Man up. Kol's not going to hurt you and neither am I!"

"Your ferocious beasties sure have a flair for the dramatic," Kol quipped as he joined Bella's side. He understood why she wanted to give them a chance to go after the Cullens as well, but the main reason for them being there was for what was growing on Quileute land. Something critical that either needed to be destroyed or heavily guarded.

A black nose appeared and a sandy colored one and Bella had enough. Walking to the bushes, she reached through the leaves and pulled one of the wolves out by their ear. "Change back, Jake, I only want to talk," she grunted as the wolf resisted. "Seth and Sam can remain shifted if they feel like it, but I can't read minds so you better change back or we will fight, and I will win."

"Relax, Loca," Jake whined after shifting back, Bella still holding on to his ear. "You don't write; you don't call…"

"You allow a scared young girl tell you not to kill some vampires…"

"Bella, believe me… we've tried finding you… we…"

Kol didn't know whether to put a pacifier in the boy's mouth and tell him that everything was going to be okay or to break his neck. The boy was pathetic.

"You're a vampire?"

"I'm not a Cold One," Bella finally released his ear. "But Kol and I want to speak to your Chief about a tree."

"What? The White Oak? What's so special about that? We've had different kinds of vampires going for it for a while now, seeing as they're so fascinated by it, we've been protecting it and killing them."

"Great!" Bella smirked and then looked at Kol. "So the seer wasn't a fraud after all!"

"We can't allow you to come onto our land, Bells. Well, you maybe, but not him. We don't know him."

"Sorry Jake, he goes where I go. So, send Seth to fetch your Chief and we'll wait here. I think we have more snacks in the trunk of the car." She ruffled his black hair and looped her arm through Kol's to walk back to the car. "Smores?"

"Oh, yes!" Kol opened the trunk and pulled the body of one of the last Cold Ones they'd killed out of the trunk, threw it on the side of the road and lit a fire before grabbing the crackers and marshmallows.

Bella had watched Jacob's expression, and those of Sam and Seth as Kol pulled the body out with fascination. "You see, unlike you, we've actually been doing some shit. There's only one coven left; well, and Peter, but we wanted to save the best for last. Maybe keeping one for you to finally kill as well."

"But Bella, how-"

"Your chief might know what I am," she sped over to Seth, still in his wolf form, and scratched him behind his ear. "Get your chief; we'll save you some smores." The wolf grinned then and spat off. She knew that Seth would be more willing to please her than Jacob, seeing as it appeared that Jake was now the Alpha of the pack. She turned to Sam who looked at her with worry in her eyes. "And you, relax, okay? Why would I ever want to hurt you? My friend said I should, but I'm over it." She then turned and sat down near the fire and started to make some smores with Kol, waiting for Jacob to join her or for Sam to relax. For the chief to come.

Seth howled in the distance and then she could hear him run back, charging at Jake and skidded to a halt right behind him before bopping him with his nose towards Bella. "Yeah uhm… I'm the chief," Jacob reluctantly admitted.

"Good on you," she said as she eyed him and patted next to her on the ground. "Come, we have a lot to discuss."

~o.O.o~

When Freya had informed him that she finally found Kol back in the United States, he wanted to hop on the next airplane and get his girlfriend back. It'd been nearly a year since she'd left with his brother, since his brother destroyed his phone and hadn't been communicating since. Apart from the occasional postcard sent by Bella.

But Freya warned him that it was best to stay here, that Kol and Bella's trip wasn't over just yet, that they still had to complete something else, something that would help the family for a very long time. Klaus' heart ached. It'd been hurting ever since he had left his Bella in transition to go on the run with Hayley and his daughter.

He had never thanked Bella for her sacrifice for him; to give him the power he had lost by the loss of his sirelines and the killing of his enemies overseas. Would she be grateful that he hadn't turned anyone since? That she was still his sole sire? Would that make her proud of him? Even changing his family's diet from compelling the servants to snatch healthy criminals off the street and drink their blood instead? That, even in all those months, he hadn't even had sex? Waiting for his Bella to return?

Aside from all the thinking and self-reflection, mourning, that he had done, they hadn't been sitting on their laurels in New Orleans either. The Cullens were safely contained and looked after by Peter and Alina, a match made in hell, as it seemed. Their confinement was reinforced by spells from Freya and Davina and he was sure that Bella was going to love it.

Davina had only lingered because of Kol; anxious to hear from him. As Klaus could somewhat relate to what the girl was feeling he allowed her to stay and help out. Of course, there were times where Klaus wanted to strangle her, but he refrained from doing so as he was curious to what would happen upon Bella and Kol's return.

The link between himself and Bella hadn't dissolved, although it had gotten easier to live with, especially once Bella had managed to settle down somewhat. He doubted that that same link would have vanished between Bella and his brother. Kol would still need Bella's blood if he didn't want to kill Davina and Klaus just wanted things to escalate so that Kol would kill her.

No matter how much Vincent Griffith talked to the Ancestors, they refused to lift the spell they placed upon Kol and Vincent was unable to do so himself. But that was alright. Now that Bella was immortal; she was going to be around forever, and Klaus didn't have to lose Kol again. They'd have time to figure this out.

But Bella was getting close to home now; he could feel it. There was anticipation building up in his bones, and he made sure that Hayley and Hope were on a trip to Disney World so that Bella wouldn't try to tear apart the mother of his child. Everything had to be perfect. He had his cooks prepare Bella's favorite snacks and meals. The bedroom they had shared had been unused for the year that she was gone as he didn't feel like he should be in there without her, so the maids were making sure that the bedroom was ready for them.

He wanted a litter of kittens as a surprise to her, but Elijah stopped him, telling him that it was ridiculous. And it was, but Klaus was confident that she'd love the kittens for some reason. And if not, he was certain Hope would.

"If I wouldn't know any better, Niklaus, I'd say you're nervous for her return," Elijah quipped as he handed his brother a glass of bourbon. "Do you believe that she still loves you? After all, you haven't spoken for a year."

"Elijah, don't be a dick," Myriam warned him from the sofa she was sitting on.

"Of course I have considered that, brother," Klaus shot back at him before throwing back the glass of bourbon and setting it back down on the bar. "But she still desires me, that much I know."

"Yeah well, she'd better not have corrupted Kol," Davina said as she was anxiously pacing around the courtyard. She'd done a locator spell, and Kol was close to coming home. Davina hoped that nothing had changed, that the year away from her would have cured him from wanting to kill her, that for some reason, the spell would have been broken. She didn't care that he'd need Bella's blood to leave town, but she sure as hell wasn't going to allow him to be dependent of Bella to be with her.

Elijah smirked at that. "Knowing our brother, it is likely that it's the other way around, Davina. I'm certain you have nothing to worry about."

"I do find it admirable that during their hunt, they managed to decimate your enemies, Niklaus," Freya smiled at her brother. "If she didn't love you anymore, she wouldn't have done that."

"That act could also be considered an act of loyalty on our brother's behalf."

"Would you stop already?" Myriam chuckled. "Don't make Klaus even get more anxious. Next thing he'd want to do is buy a bunch of horses and put them somewhere in this building."

"That is an excellent idea!"

"No, it's not, brother," Elijah poured him another drink before sitting down next to Myriam. "But it's quite entertaining to wind him up."

"That's not your duty, my love," she gently pat his cheek with the palm of her hand. "Not with the impending return of his beloved."

"Speaking of which… here they come," he said amused as he watched the entrance.

Klaus ran to the door, waiting for Bella to arrive and when she did, he was floored. Figuratively, because she looked amazing in the leather pants, she was wearing with a black crop top, accentuating all of her body and literally because she threw him across the courtyard. "That was uncalled for!"

"Was it?"

"I thought we moved past all of that!"

"Oh, we did," Bella replied as she walked in further. "And I forgave you, but damn, throwing you around like that feels so good!" She then walked towards Elijah and Myriam, a big bright smile on her face. "Hi!" she greeted them before she pulled Elijah off the couch and launched him to join Klaus. "Don't you ever, ever, give us a babysitter, you hear me?"

Kol watched the scene in amusement before Davina flung herself at him. Thankfully, as a precaution, he had ingested some of Bella's blood upon entering New Orleans, and he was relieved that he was able to put his arms around her again. "Davina Claire," he breathed a sigh of relief. "You're a sight for sore eyes."

"Come," she smiled at him as she started to pull him back towards the entrance. "You can talk shop tomorrow. You're mine now."

Bella put her foot on top of Klaus' chest. She was wearing stilettos, and her whole ensemble made him want to jump her, she just knew it. Bella could feel it. It was the whole reason why she had picked it up before she and Kol came back. "Hi, honey," she smirked at him. "Care to rip off these clothes off my body and fuck me senseless?"


	38. Changes

He had grabbed her, knowing that he didn't have to be that delicate with her anymore, and had brought them upstairs. Once she had regained her footing, however, she fought him for dominance by trying to push him down. She failed, of course, and he pushed her against the wall before claiming her mouth.

Bella pawed at him until she had a full fist of fabric and proceeded to tear off his shirt as they kissed, reclaiming each other one step at a time. "Have you been faithful?" She asked while they kept kissing, digging her sharp nails into his shoulders, sending waves of pain and pleasure through his body.

What kind of bizarre question was that? Of course he had been! "Have you?" He knew that she had, despite it being hard for her, especially in the beginning after her transition.

She growled, then, dragging her nails through his skin. "I want you inside of me, now!"

"You should have worn a skirt, love," he said amused before grabbing her and threw her onto the bed. Klaus got rid of her shoes and peeled off her pants before she flipped the both of them over, and she ripped off his pants. "Love, I know you have super strength now, no need to use it on me."

"Fuck you," she growled as she kissed him, hard. She felt like a nun the last year. Kol had no qualms about finding someone to have fun with - it was a secret between her and Kol so Davina wouldn't find out, she helped herself. "I want you inside of me, now, we can do gentle later."

He ripped off her panties and sunk right into her after flipping them back on the bed, nearly rolling off of it. They were close to the edge, on the brink and edge, both needing to reclaim each other and falling into their own personal and shared oblivion first.

Being a vampire was fantastic, especially when you were as insatiable as her and Klaus. For ten whole hours they didn't talk about the last year, but only paid attention to each other, breaking the bed and a table in the den and cuddling in the bath. Bella loved being back in Klaus' arms and feeling his hands on her. Sex as a vampire was beyond anything she'd ever experienced; every touch, stroke, and nibble were heightened, and she felt like wax in his hands.

Unfortunately, they had to stop having fun after they both got hungry and Klaus excitedly pulled her to the cellar, not caring that the both of them were naked. "We've made an adjustment in our diet, love," he said proudly. "No longer are we feeding on our staff, even though we paid them quite generously. We now are snacking on healthy criminals instead."

"Why?"

"Because blood is blood and there are criminals aplenty. Some of these hooligans don't even have a family anymore; you don't need to be that careful when feeding." Klaus pulled one of them out of the jail and pushed him into Bella's arms. "Enjoy, my darling," he smiled at her. He'd been wanting to see her face ever since he turned her. He couldn't ever forgive himself for having missed her 'firsts'. First feed, first kill, first everything. At least she had behaved herself and allowed him to be the first she'd have sex with.

She loved him still, despite his treatment of her. He never stopped loving her. And seeing her vampire face for the first time was glorious. She was so beautiful and so glad that that didn't change when she fed or hunted. Klaus was used to normal feeding noises, but she actually moaned at some point, and he had not expected that.

Pulling the man out of her hold and back into the cell, he pushed her against the wall and kissed her, hard, as he plunged into her, resuming their previous 10-hour affection for each other.

Bella barked out a laugh as he fucked her against the wall. Who knew that Klaus Mikaelson couldn't control himself? She melted into him so quickly; she'd do anything for him, to feel his hands on her, to feel his lips on her skin. She had missed him so much, she hadn't realized that, or perhaps Bella had ignored the nagging feeling as she was focused on killing Cold Ones, but now that she was back, she didn't ever want to leave again.

She felt the familiar knot building up in her stomach whenever Kol was in need for her blood. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was disruptive to say the least. Also served as a precursor to make sure that he wouldn't desiccate. Now that they were back in New Orleans, and he was with Davina, it was to stop him from killing her. Unfortunately, it appeared that he needed to have her blood more often now. Perhaps it had to do something with the proximity of Davina.

"We need to get dressed," Bella moaned as Klaus still moved inside of her. She didn't want him to stop. She didn't want to tell him to stop, but she was worried about Kol now. Davina could seriously hurt him if she'd try to stop him herself. "Klaus, please," she whimpered as she tried to stop from flying apart against him, but he sent her flying. Again.

"I will not allow my brother's needs to be disruptive to our life," Klaus said in a low, threatening voice, sending pleasurable sensations all through her body. "He'd just have to break up with the witch if he doesn't want to kill her."

"He's your brother. He has every right to be happy like you and Elijah," she softly kissed him as he pulled out of her. "Feed. I'll get dressed and fill a glass with my blood. He'll be here soon."

"Bella."

She could hear a disapproving tone in his voice, and she returned that sound with a glare before pushing him back and running upstairs to get quickly dressed. She was in the courtyard just in time when Kol walked in, clearly agitated and angry. She filled a glass with her blood and handed it to him, gently caressing his cheek. "It'll be alright," she said soothingly.

"No, Bella, this isn't a matter of me desiccating," he threw back the glass of blood and took a deep breath, feeling the unwanted feelings getting less. "This is a matter of whether or not I'm going to kill my girlfriend!"

"We knew this was going to be a possibility," she said calmly, pulling him onto the couch and put her arms around him, holding him like she'd done quite a few times over the last year, for comfort, calming him. "Maybe you should ask Klaus if you could live here with Davina, that way you're close by and you don't have to cross a busy city when you feel like you were feeling just now - saving a lot of innocents in the process."

"It's not just Davina… I know I've never wanted to control my bloodlust, but now it's impossible to…" Kol sighed, slightly shaking as Bella's blood made his way through his system, also shaking off the bad feeling he had in his body; the sense of dread. Davina didn't understand, despite him trying to explain the situation as well as she could. She wanted to destroy the ancestors for him, but he doubted that even that would lift the spell. Destroying them would only take away most of their power, they were ghosts. They couldn't be destroyed.

She gently ran her hand through his hair before she tugged it to make him sit up. "We're going to make this work," she said determinedly as she nodded towards Klaus, who was watching them from the walkway. "And we can start with having you move in. I'm sure there's an empty room around here. Like that one on the corner there, with its own den and bedroom, just like what we have upstairs."

"Absolutely not!" Klaus growled as he made his way downstairs.

"Tough," Bella said, getting to her feet and standing between Kol and his older brother, her lover. "The time that you treat your brother as anything less than is over."

"It's not that!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "We've gotten close in the last year, yes, but that's it. We're friends. Good friends. He needs my blood on occasion, but that's fine. It's nothing sensual, Klaus."

"Just kill the witch and get it over with."

"And then what? Banish him from New Orleans?" Bella huffed. "Even with Davina dead, there's still the problem that he can't leave this city without my blood." She smiled at him before tiptoeing and kissing him. "He's not a bad person, Klaus. Just like you're not a bad guy."

He looked around Bella to look at his younger brother. "What do you think?"

Kol shrugged. "Do you wish for me to slaughter half of New Orleans when I'm in need for a top up?"

"Kol," Bella warned him.

"What? Do I need to admit that I would love to stay here? That this is my place too? That I've earned my place by now and that Nik owes it to me for me to stay here after all the things that he did?"

"I did?!"

"Hey!" Bella smacked Klaus on his chest. "It's decided then; Kol is moving in."

~o.O.o~

Breakfast was interesting. This was the first time that everyone was back together since Bella and Kol had left for Europe. Even Myriam was there; she was spending more time with Elijah than at the club, where she had hired an excellent manager to free up some of her day. Bella was surprised to hear that, seeing as Myriam had always been so hands-on when it came to the club. But it was good that she finally decided to let her hair down. It was a little sad, though, as Bella had figured she'd go back to work at Myriam's as a bookkeeper but she didn't need one anymore.

Everyone was more curious as how Bella and Kol had fared in the last year. It was so much fun to retell their stories, the way they lost count when killing Cold Ones and even how they stopped at Klaus' former favorite artist retreat Belaga. While Gaspar Cortez had burned the entire village all those years ago; the village had been rebuilt and had turned into a tourist trap. Bella decided to eat everyone. Kol and Elijah saw the humor in that; Klaus didn't like it - despite not having been to Belaga in so long.

And then it was time to reveal something Klaus would love even more. "We traveled through the States to round up the remaining Cold Ones and returned to Forks."

"Forks?"

Bella slowly nodded. "It was strange to return there; Kol made sure I stopped by the cemetery to visit my dad and then we went to the reservation."

"Get this, instead of driving straight onto the reservation, she stopped at the border, and we had a picnic," Kol rolled his eyes. "I would have stepped on there if I wanted something."

"They're a tribe of shifters who are capable of tearing apart a Cold One. Despite them being asses and listening to a lovestruck teenager instead of doing what they were made for, I respect them too much to do just that. On top of that, I wouldn't survive it if they'd take me apart. You might have."

"Love, not everyone deserves your compassion and respect," Klaus said amused as he took a bite out of his pastry. "You don't owe those wolves anything."

"No, but I didn't particularly have a death wish, either, Klaus," she stuck out her tongue to him. "Anyway, we went there because I wanted to give them a chance to do what they were built to do; kill Cold Ones, maybe throw Emmett at them or something so that they'd feel adequate." Bella saw the shocked faces of Klaus and Elijah. "Don't worry; they refused like I knew they would. However, I've given them a new task and should they fail it, I promised them that we would kill every single one of them. Every Quileute, innocent or not."

"You should have seen her, Nik, it was glorious," Kol grinned. "She is your queen, no doubt about it."

Freya smiled knowingly. "I told you that Bella had an errand to run, didn't I? She found the new White Oak tree."

"You did?" Klaus said surprised. "Did you burn it down?"

"No," Bella smiled widely. "A pack of shifter wolves trained to kill vampires is guarding it. Should something fall off it, I instructed them to burn it and they will."

"You should have burned it to the ground."

"And then what? Only have it to reappear in a few hundred years in a space we can't control? We know where it is now. It's safe. I'm sure Freya can come up with a spell that will protect the location from locator spells and whatever, but tearing it down didn't seem the wisest decision."

"Bella, you don't understand that-" Elijah said slowly, eying her carefully.

"I don't understand what? That that tree could kill you all a hundred times over? I do. And you can do whatever you want with it when I'm gone."

"It'd be good to have the tree around," Freya said with a small smile on her face. "The magical properties of that tree are astronomical; I could get a piece of it and use it to cast more extensive and more powerful protection spells for our family."

"I don't care," both Elijah and Klaus said as they got to their feet. "That tree is going to burn. And Kol, you're unbelievable, how could you have allowed her to arrange this?"

"We know where it is now. Bella's right, it could pop up again in a place we're not privy to. Where we can't control it because we won't be able to find it. It's safe."

Sometimes Kol talked a lot of sense and usually, both he and Elijah ignored him. But Bella was right, Kol was a member of their family, they were brothers for god's sake, and it was time to take his opinions into account too. "And you're sure those wolves will continue to protect it?"

"Yeah, they feel pretty bad for screwing me over," Bella said with a shrug. "But one call from me and they will burn it to the ground if you want to."

Klaus sucked in a breath. Maybe it was alright to give in just a little, have her decide something and lay down the law. She had a good head on her shoulders, and she knew those wolves better than he did. "I suppose that for now, we'll have them guard the tree, but if anything goes wrong…"

"We'll burn the tree," Bella smiled at him. "Have a little faith."

Maybe leaving the decision up to her was a mistake. "Having faith doesn't keep us safe, love."

"And you can take your paranoia too far."

"She's right, Niklaus," Elijah said calmly after having given it some thought. "And usually when that happens, we all suffer. I'm not saying I agree with keeping the tree whole, but perhaps it is time that we try something different, change with the times, sort to speak."

Bella finished eating her beignet and then grinned. "So, have I earned a Cullen to kill?" She rubbed her hands together in glee, causing Kol to snicker.

"I'd say that you have. It's the icing on the cake!"

"Yes! Exactly!"

"We could make it into a game as well, release one and then chase it."

"I've done too much chasing," Bella whined playfully. "Remember Egypt? Ugh. No, just take me to them and I'll kill them all."

"Where's the fun in that, love?" Klaus pulled her into his lap, still not liking it that she had struck a great friendship with his idiot brother. "They've earned it to be tortured, to be pulled apart one bone at a time… to be sliced apart with a blunt knife."

Bella thought for a moment before she put her arms around his neck and softly kissed him. "Blunt knives won't penetrate their skin, no matter how much force you put behind it. Sharp things. A million sharp things… a wall of tiny sharp things and then throw one of them into it… Oh! Like a giant cheese grater!" She could already imagine what it'd look like, skin being shaved off as the venom went everywhere, unable to move - with a little help from Freya's magic - and their cries filling the room; it would make her heart sing with joy, it would be a real turn on, too.

"Bella," Kol glared at her. While he had learned how to tune out most of her emotions over the previous year, it was quite obvious that his brother hadn't had much of them up close. Knowing that the two of them had quite the night, he just had to warn her a little; Elijah would not appreciate another round of smashing and moaning.

"Before we're going to end your nightmare for good, can I ask a favor?" Freya asked Bella as she wiped her hands on a handkerchief. "Alina has fallen hard for Peter, and he is equally smitten with her."

Bella wanted to save Peter. He was a good guy, but she knew that she couldn't control herself once she started killing Cold Ones. He was still a Cold One, and that could prove problematic. She also wanted to see Alina again but wasn't sure how that was going to work with her dating Peter. "I can't promise I won't kill him."

"No, that's alright," Freya smiled reassuringly. "While you were away killing my brother's enemies and your own, I've been working on a spell to turn around his vampirism. He won't turn into a human as that would kill him, but he'd become like you."

"You can do that?"

"I'm confident that I can, yes. I've wanted to try for a while now, as a present to him, but Niklaus convinced me that it was best to ask you first, seeing as you're who you are."

"Aw, thanks! That's sweet, and yes, do that. I can kill Cullens whenever."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Bella smirked as she ran her hand through Klaus' hair. "Your brother and I have a lot to catch up on anyway," she said in barely a whisper before she blew in Klaus' ear. Before she knew it, he had brought her back up to the bedroom.

"For the love of god, I hope that will end soon," Freya muttered as she rose to her feet. "I'm going to call Peter with the good news and prepare for the spell. The sooner he changes, the better."

"Can I look at the spell, please?" Kol asked his sister.

She let out a breath of relief. "Yes, brother, please! I can't wait to see if your brilliant mind can make the spell simpler or even better!"


	39. Adjustment Issues

"And?"

Bella pulled away from Kol, who was holding her anxiously and walked towards Peter. She was well aware that everyone was looking at her as if she was going to snap and kill him. It didn't work that way, really. She merely didn't want to show restraint when she saw a Cold One, it had been a choice, although also not so much because she felt like crap around them.

She hadn't touched him yet, and Cold Ones couldn't see her unless she made her presence known. "You can see me?"

"Of course," Peter smiled at her.

"Why wouldn't he be able to see you?" Klaus was curious. While she and Kol had shared some of their shenanigans over the last few days, this was something they had conveniently left out.

"We discovered that the reason why she's so good at what she does, is that she's invisible to Cold Ones," Kol grinned. "Seriously, Nik, the first time she actually played with that was during the massacre of the Volturi. Aro screamed like a little child when she killed his mate."

Bella hit him on the arm before turning around again and went back to Peter. "Wife."

"Right. We don't speak about mates."

Interesting. "Why didn't you tell me?" Klaus demanded, carefully watching the love of his life approaching a former Cold One, still in the middle of transitioning from that to a regular vampire.

"Eh," Bella shrugged, waving her hand. "Not important." Bella started to circle around Peter and poked him in certain areas. "How are you feeling, Peter?" His skin was still a little bit hard, no wonder, really. His eyes hadn't changed and she couldn't smell the blood in his body. Peter wasn't sparkling, so that was a plus.

"Lighter," Peter replied as he eyed her carefully before looking at Freya. "Are you sure this worked?"

"You still need to recover for a few days," Freya explained. "Magic is wonderful, but even that has its limitations. The venom inside you is slowly turning into plasma and your skin will get softer as it does. What's important if she kills you or not."

Bella smirked as she ran her hand over the base of Peter's neck. "I haven't decided yet," she replied with a shrug. "Tell me, Peter, what are your intentions with my Alina?"

"Oh, not you too," Peter sighed as he buried his face in his hands. "Myriam already said it was fine that I was dating Alina."

"Dating?" Bella let out a snort. "Oh, you poor bastard, who said anything about dating?" She then turned to Freya with a big smile on her face. "Oh, he lost his gift, didn't he?" Bella let out a giggle when Freya nodded and put her hand over Peter's crotch.

Klaus held his breath. While he didn't particularly care for both Alina and Peter, he could feel the curiosity rise within him. It wasn't his, it was Bella's. One look at Kol and he knew that he felt the same. Damn his brother, though, he had more experience with having to deal with Bella's emotions up close. Klaus had been fine once he had figured out how to tune out certain emotions at long distance, but this feeling was more than curiosity. It was a morbid curiosity and he wouldn't be surprised if Bella ripped off Peter's cock.

It did feel like she was in control over herself, but knowing Bella, this could easily change. Both he and Kol were ready to leap to Peter's defense and rip the little spitfire off of him if necessary.

"Now that you're no longer in danger of hurting her with this thing here, what will your intentions be with my best friend?" Bella knew that they probably wouldn't have had sex yet; despite Alina being a vampire, Cold One venom still hurt like crazy. To Bella it was a silly sensation but that was because it was her duty to kill them all. Even Kol, an Original vampire, got burned a couple of times.

Peter smirked at her, despite his gift being non-existent, he knew what she was aiming at. "Treat her like my equal and fuck her mercilessly."

"Good boy," Bella removed her hand from him and gently pat his cheek. "Don't worry, the urge to kill you isn't there. At least the effect that Cold Ones have on me isn't here."

Klaus exhaled at the same time Kol did as relief washed over them. It was hard not to be jealous about the relationship between Bella and Kol. They had spent a whole year together and, if he had to be honest, he'd been afraid that she'd stray and settle for his brother. Unlike himself, Kol didn't have the pressure of having to keep their family together, to make sure they were safe. Granted, Kol would fight his hardest to do so if either Klaus or Elijah asked him, but he was the wild one.

Somewhere over the years, Klaus had lost that. Hayley pointed that out during their trip, actually. While she appreciated it that he did everything in his power to keep everyone safe, he needed to loosen up. He was truly free now, as was Bella, and it was about time that they started to enjoy their lives. Bella already had a head start due to her time in Europe, with Kol, killing Cold Ones and even some of the disgruntled vampires from his former sireline and now Klaus felt the pressure to catch up.

He'd already made the first step by having Hayley and Hope return home and invite Hayley over for a drink that evening and talk about the last year. For the sake of inclusion, he also invited Davina, something Kol was probably going to love.

Kol was faster than he was when the urge to kill rose inside of Bella and he directed her away from Peter. "We're not going to kill Peter."

"No," Bella swatted his hands away from her. "I was merely thinking that we should take a Cullen… preferably a screamer… and take it to the scrap yard. You know, they have those machines to turn cars into a thin slice of metal? I want to do that with a Cullen. And once it's flat, I want to run a knife over their body and slice them like they're a chunk of cheese."

"What?" Klaus let out a snort. "Love, isn't it a lot easier to just kill them?"

"What the hell do you think I've been doing in the past year? No, they deserve to die with pain. To choke on their own venom. I want them to know that I, Bella Swan, will be the death of them and that I'm going to make it painful."

"Sure, love, we can do that," he replied, fascinated by this side of her. He had never known that there was a little psychopath hidden inside of her. "What about tomorrow?"

"What about today? Now?"

"You know they can't travel in daylight!"

"This is New Orleans. Weirder things happen than a sparkly person. No, I want one now. I want to kill all of them, but one will do, for now. I want them to stew a little in fear."

"Now, now, there's no reason to be a brat about it," Klaus said patronizingly as he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer before repositioning his arm and lead her out of the room. He had different plans and with her wanting to change them wasn't sitting well with him. Klaus hated it that ever since she returned she was even more bossy than she'd been previously, she was still angry with him for leaving with Hayley, wasn't she? "Hayley is coming home today, with Hope."

"I'm not being a brat about it, but fine. I'll kill them all today in the same boring way that I have killed their kind over the last few months and get it over with," Bella said grumpily. "I wanted to have my fun with them because of what they did to me, but yes, let's forget the fact that you like to torture your worst enemies as well. Where are they? Let's finish this nightmare."

He wanted to pull out his own hair. "Just because I do it doesn't mean you're going to!"

Bella stopped walking and pulled away from him. "Oh, what? Is it because I have boobs? Is that it? I should sit still and be pretty all day? Like I did when you tried to screw Aurora over by literally screwing her?"

"With your permission!"

"Oh, so I'm right," Bella barked out a laugh. "Oh wow. Nice, Klaus. Very gentlemanly of you. I can't believe you've rounded up the Cullens and haven't killed them yet in the time that I've been away only for not _allowing_ me to kill them?"

"You didn't hear me when I said that Hayley was returning today."

"So what? You want me to be pretty? Is that it? There is time for both and if you're not taking me to them then I will find someone who will. Or better yet, I'll find them myself."

Klaus was too late to hold her back as she sped off and when he turned to see if their little spat had been witnessed, he saw the smirk on his brother's face. "What, Kol?" he barked.

"Let's just hope that her bursts of anger will go away once she's killed them all, you looked about ready to kill her," Kol replied with a shrug. "Don't worry, brother, in time, you'll learn to deal with her emotions. Until then, I shall try to find her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

~o.O.o~

Of course she hadn't gone and find the Cullens in a city like New Orleans without Kol, but she really needed to get out of there before she'd do something irreparable to her relationship with Klaus. He was such a stick in the mud, sometimes. The freedom she had enjoyed with Kol had been exhilarating and she knew that she had to dial her opinions back to whatever level they were before, but Klaus hadn't even wanted to give her one Cullen.

Only because of fucking Hayley coming back today. With Hope. Klaus' daughter. He had had the entire year to be a family with them and sure, she appreciated it that Hayley wasn't actually there when she and Kol returned, but now that she was coming back Bella couldn't help but feel as if she was yet again going to be pushed aside. Or 'managed'.

She had gone to the only place she felt somewhat safe in New Orleans other than the compound, and that was her old stomping grounds Débauche. Myriam wasn't there, she was with Elijah and the new manager didn't want to let her inside. If it wasn't for Frank, she wouldn't have been able to get in anyway.

And, no wonder, Kol found her and they drank. A lot. "I envy you," Kol eventually said after a very long silence and a bottle of bourbon empty. "Nik has this thing where he tries to control and manipulate people he cares too much about, he wants to keep them safe and close. All I've ever felt with him was that I'm a burden."

"Don't be stupid, he loves you."

"Now he does. He didn't have a choice in listening to me when I was in that witch' body. He didn't have a choice to accept me when I offered to help because Mother was batshit crazy. I proved my worth and he didn't like me dying again," Kol replied calmly. "And to be honest, he was incredibly pissed off when I took you to Europe."

"I wasn't going to wait around for him to come back, you know. I would have gone on my own."

"And he would have come after you and hunt you down. I think that me coming with you worked in all of our best interests," Kol smiled at her. "He doesn't like to be abandoned."

"Well, he abandoned me!" Bella threw back another shot. "Look, I understand his need to disappear, to make sure that his daughter was safe, but… damnit, I thought I was over this already."

"Klaus knew you were safe," Hayley's voice came from behind them. "Granted, the way that he turned you was not okay and I made sure he knew that, but he left you in safe hands. None of his enemies knew about you."

Bella squeezed her glass so tight that it exploded.

"Oh," Kol sucked in a breath as he held up his hand to stop Hayley from approaching for her own good. Hybrid or not, Bella was just as strong, if not stronger. He sincerely doubted that Myriam would love to redecorate the walls of the bar if Bella would hurt Hayley. Not to mention, Nik would kill Bella in return.

"I don't like Klaus and he knows it," Hayley continued from her spot, taking her cue from Kol at this point. "We had a one night stand and Hope's the product of that. I have to at least tolerate him because of Hope. It took a lot of fighting and backstabbing to get to the point where we are at now; talking about what's best for her. Especially now that she's getting older. You were there when we fought when I came back."

"He did what he did to keep his daughter safe," Bella muttered. "You were going to take her away."

"And I did what I did to keep Hope safe too," Hayley countered. "We both had our daughter's best interest at heart, even if that meant taking her away from her father. Which, in hindsight, had been a very bad idea because like Kol said; Klaus doesn't like to be abandoned."

"Then why does he do it to other people? This wasn't even the first time he left me because when I was living here, he just stopped coming round one day without explanation and that broke my heart. If he does it to other people to protect them, to keep them safe, he really needs an attitude adjustment."

"Klaus likes to be in control," Hayley said, taking a few steps closer as Kol relaxed somewhat. "So with him leaving you with his siblings, safe, he knew that you were safe. He took me and Hope because I had just lost my husband and I really wanted to kill things and Hope wouldn't be safe on her own, she's a baby." She slipped into the chair next to Bella. "Thing is though, he can't control women like us. It's a constant struggle on both sides of the issue. You, me, Rebekah… even Cami. We like to march to our own drum and that's hard for him to accept because we're not this perfect image he has of us."

"I'm tired of being handled. For the first time in a very long time I've enjoyed myself, my freedom, and I come back to this?"

"Did you tell him that?"

"Yeah, last night. I just… I don't know, really."

"Did he tell you about our trip? What we did?"

"Of course he did. You went to all the Kingfisher buildings and gutted them. Burned them down, to erase every trace of Lucien and everything he tried to pull."

"What else?"

"What else was there?"

Hayley smirked and motioned to the bartender to keep pouring. "He destroyed six cars because of this bond between you two. Uncontrolled anger was the cause of most destruction, but there was this one time where he was driving and he got so turned on and horny that he couldn't remember how to work a seat belt and tore off the steering wheel to get out of the car as quickly as possible." she took a swig of her bourbon and shrugged. "When I asked, he muttered something along the lines of you being a tease on the hood of a car."

"Oh," Kol grinned and quickly took a sip from his drink.

"Nothing happened between you two, right?" Hayley eyed them suspiciously. "Because it was kinda intense."

"We didn't have sex with each other, no," Bella shook her head. "Kol was a gentleman and kept refusing me and eventually I decided to wait until I got home. To Klaus."

"We'd take down these buildings together, but sometimes he was so uncontrollably angry that he started to smash everything in sight, kill everyone in sight, so I took a step back while he let off some steam inside the building," she then looked at Kol. "How did you fare?"

"I joined in with the killing, it was fun," he grinned. "Eventually I managed to separate my own feelings from hers and not getting taken over by them, to keep a clear head."

"He managed to do the same on our way back to New Orleans, but I suppose it's easier to get it under control when you're not on top of it," Hayley shrugged. "Upon our return, he stayed at the Infirmary for a while just to make sure that he was still sane. He needed a break, I guess."

Bella threw back her glass and shifted a bit uncomfortably. "It's not as if I can help it what happened, you know."

"No, but your life isn't the only one that changed. You can show at least a little bit of restraint when it comes to dealing with your emotions."

"Bella has excellent control over her emotions," Kol said defensively. "When there are no Cold Ones around she's the nicest person ever. She knows the Cullens are in New Orleans somewhere. Subconsciously she feels them and that makes her angry. She holds a lot of anger and resentment towards them and I don't blame her," he continued as he downed his glass. "It was liberating to exert all that anger onto the rest of them, but once the Cullens are gone she no longer serves a purpose as a Singer and she'll be fine."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Kol nodded. "A Singer exists solely to kill Cold Ones, her strength comes from her anger and rage. Once they're all gone, she'll be able to deal with everything else in a more rational way. All of her anger is on a big heap right now, difficult to sift through."

"Keep talking as if I'm not here," Bella said angrily and threw back another shot.

"It's either sex or anger with her these days," Kol grinned. "It's driving Klaus nuts."

"We wouldn't be in this situation if he'd just let me kill one of them today. But noooo, the mother of his child is coming home today, can't it wait until tomorrow?" Bella said mockingly before looking at Hayley. "Best way to describe this feeling is as if there's ants underneath your skin, crawling around, taking a nibble, it's annoying and I want it gone."

"Klaus told me about your idea, I love it," Hayley grinned. "Let's go get one and do it."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, fuck Klaus, right? I'm kinda curious myself what would happen if you'd put them into a car crusher and shit like that. I love a good torture!"

"Sounds like we're going to break out the popcorn," Kol emptied his glass before paying the bartender for the damage. "Which one will we be taking?"

"Rosalie, I never liked the dumb bimbo."


	40. The Start Of New Beginnings

Bella felt all giddy when Hayley told her and Kol to go to the scrapyard and start compelling people to leave or work the machinery for them while Hayley went to fetch the still enthralled Rosalie. She had known this moment was coming and all the work she and Kol had done had lead up to this but to actually do it was exciting, she could feel the adrenaline rushing through her body and she couldn't stop smiling.

"Would you just stop?" Kol laughed. "Nik will find out and stop us, you know."

"There'll be three of us and one of him. He's a hybrid but we can snap his neck and continue what we're doing," Bella said as she jumped around at the edge of the car crusher. "They're mine. Not his. Besides, he didn't want me to kill one today because Hayley and Hope were returning and now she's offering one up. Win." Bella stopped jumping and looked at Kol after she realized something. "What does Davina think of you having moved in with us?"

"Uh… I haven't had the chance to tell her yet."

"You're going to tell her after we're done here," she smiled at him. "You shouldn't feel obligated to chase after me all the time, I was fine drinking at Myriam's."

Kol was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "But perhaps I want to," he said, immediately throwing his hands up. "Not in a creepy kind of way, I like you as a friend and yes, you're hot and all, but friends. Besides, you're with my brother - at the moment. But what you and I have, I like. I don't have to take into account that I'm still cursed by the Ancestors and can tear out your throat any moment. You're funny. We've spent the last year together and it was so much fun. I like it that my siblings like you. I like it that I can spend more time with my siblings when I'm around you even though they still don't know what to do with me. I like it that you make me feel like I'm not alone."

"You feel alone with Davina?"

He shrugged in return. "I'm mad for her, I truly am, but we've never been completely honest with each other and I doubt that we'll ever be. What's important is that I don't want her to be killed. Now, Nik and Elijah have backed off because I asked them to, but I don't want her to die by my hand either. What if I can't get to you in time?"

"The solution is simple, really," Bella sat down on the edge of the machine, dangling her legs over the edge before she pulled him down to her.

"I'm not going to turn her."

"I thought you loved her? Make her a little sturdier so that Klaus can't kill her."

"I'm not going to turn her, Bella, she doesn't deserve that. Besides, she loves being a witch too much."

"Well, you can't string her along either."

"Don't you think I know that? It's frustrating!"

"So? Go to her," Bella poked him in the side with her elbow. "Go to her and talk to her. Be honest with her."

He was quiet again, the oh so confident Kol Mikaelson had turned shy. "I'd rather not." He then looked up with a big grin on his face. "Guess who's here!"

"Oh, I'm so going to kick your ass for changing the subject!" Bella growled as she got to her feet and waved at Hayley. "Hi! How's she doing?"

"Resisting but nothing I couldn't handle," she smirked as she held up an arm. "Sorry I dented the merch."

"Batting practice!" Kol cheered as he got to his feet and snatched the arm out of Hayley's hold. "Please, can I?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Rosalie snapped at Kol. "I thought our kind had a truce, but instead you keep us all like pets? For what reason?"

"Your family is the only of your kind that's left, darling," Kol replied as he twirled the arm in his hand before starting to poke Rosalie with it. "Certainly you would have heard rumors about a Singer decimating your numbers?"

"The Volturi wouldn't allow it!"

"They're dead."

Rosalie blinked at that.

"Seriously, Hayley? For how long have you kept them in storage?"

"They were on the run, didn't have access to a lot of things, so… I don't know, maybe they're just plain stupid. Although according to Peter, the longer they go without blood, the more stupid and crazy they get." she said as she pushed Rosalie away from her. "So it's true then, they really can't see you?"

"Nope," Bella grinned as she walked around Rosalie in a circle. "Can't even hear me either until I decide to make my presence known by touching them, awesome, isn't it?" Rosalie still looked like a flawless barbie doll. Even without having fed in a while, her hair was perfect and her clothes were nearly unscathed. "I'm so glad that they haven't managed to turn me, though, I mean… at least I can get dirty and get my hair all messed up and move as if I'm still a human."

Kol huffed. "Darling, you're prettier than she is."

"Who are you talking to?" Rosalie said impatiently. "And what am I doing here?"

"Ugh," Bella said as she positioned herself behind Rosalie and smiled sweetly at Kol and Hayley. "Would you two please make sure she can't use her legs?"

Kol held on to Rosalie and kicked her leg, snapping it in half at the knee with Hayley doing the same thing. Bella then kicked Rosalie into the pit and waited for her to turn around before waving at her. "Hi!"

"Bella! You get me out of here right now!"

"Is she really that thick, or?" Kol asked curiously. "Seems like all the Cold Ones have forgotten about what you are, Bella."

Bella shrugged as she sat down on the edge of the machine, knowing that she didn't have long until Rosalie's legs would have healed. "Rosalie, I'm a singer, remember? And I've been turned. Guess what I am now?" She said calmly before she continued. "I'm going to take great joy out of killing you and your coven for what you've done to me. For what you've made me do. You're the last of your kind. Any last words?"

"Get me out. Whatever is going on, I'm sure we can talk about it, it's okay, Bella, the rage and anger that you feel."

"Wow. Shame I want to hear you scream because I'm just itching to tear off your head," she replied, getting back to her feet and signalling the machine operator to start squeezing the bitch into a one centimeter steel board. Taking the arm from Kol, she threw that into the pit as well and couldn't wait to hear Rosalie scream.

And when it happened, the sound of steel on steel, the sound of the machine struggling with doing what it was built to do and Rosalie's cries did something to Bella. It wasn't empathy that she felt, no, elation. Pure madness and elation. When the machine appeared to give up, she, Hayley and Kol went to help the machine to squash Rosalie even further until she stopped making noise and the walls nearly touched.

Releasing the now compact Rosalie from the machine, Bella started with breaking off Rosalie's fingers and toes before setting fire to the venom that had seeped out of Rosalie's body. "Adios, blondie," she said as she gathered the bits that she had saved and smirked at Hayley as she held them up. "Let's throw these at Klaus."

"Ohh, lets!"

~o.O.o~

"Where have you been? I was worried sick!"

Bella looked at Klaus and huffed. "Please, I'm not a fragile little thing nor am I volatile, I'm in control over my own actions. I just needed to get away from you, which is fine. Hayley and I did some bonding while Kol kept an eye on us." She flopped onto the couch in the courtyard and looked at him. "Are you cured from your excessive need to control everyone and everything?"

He just stood there, gaping at her.

Bella broke one of Rosalie's fingers in half and threw it at Klaus, hitting him straight in the chest. "Guess not. But guess what? Hayley got Rosalie for me out of storage and we killed her." She threw the other half of the finger at him as Hayley threw something else at him from another angle. "I want to kill the rest of them tomorrow. They deserve an unspectacular death, but Edward does, so I'll think about how I want him to die."

"If you refuse her that, you're really an asshole," Hayley said as she moved towards the empty chair and continued to pelt pieces of toe at him. "What happened to you telling everyone that she's your equal? She has every reason to make demands at this point. To even think that you're keeping her from fulfilling her prophecy to the fullest is beyond me, Klaus."

"Kol, why haven't you gone to Davina yet? You brought us home safely, go see your girlfriend," she reminded him before Bella launched Rosalie's middle finger at his brother for it to lodge into his leg.

Klaus growled as he pulled the finger out of his leg and watched his brother disappear. Whatever was going on, he'd likely find out later. "That hurts! What are you throwing at me anyway?"

Bella shrugged as she threw another piece at him. "Pieces of Rosalie. But don't worry, I'll clean up the mess myself and burn it all when we're done harassing you."

He wasn't just going to stand there and allow the two to throw Cold One body parts at him. He had better things to do. Dropping the finger onto the floor, he went upstairs to check up on Hope. Klaus knew that Hayley was right about the way he treated Bella, it was very much his default setting and it was difficult to change that. Camille had told him this as well, and he had once admitted that it was the main reason why he was butting heads with Hayley so much.

He didn't want this with Bella. For this to work between them, he'd have to change. Find some middle ground and not feel emasculated. He was happy for Bella that she was finally daring to be herself, have an opinion of her own and not backing down from it because she knew what she wanted. Klaus didn't want to appear weak.

And hell, Bella teaming up with Hayley? That would be a disaster to his relationship with Bella. Klaus needed to change. And change was hard. He could start by having more fun.

Where to start? By giving Bella what she wanted, of course. Hope was still asleep and Hayley would no doubt stay here until she awoke and go back to her apartment across the street. Klaus was going to take Bella to the remaining Cullens and let her play with them, no matter how long she wanted to spend on them. Preferably long, he loved a good torture.

It was going to be just her and him, and Freya to lift the spell that subdued the Cullens in their current living situation. But no one else. No Kol. No Davina, no Elijah, no one else but Bella and him. Perhaps Peter wanted to watch, but he wouldn't be strong enough to take on one by himself and after all the trouble Freya had gone through to find a spell and perfect it to turn him into a proper vampire Klaus didn't want something to happen to him - yet. His sister would be so disappointed if something would happen to him.

They hadn't allowed the Cullens to feed since they had managed to catch them all and it had been fascinating to see the decline in their mental state; while their skin remained flawless, they started to lose their minds. While desiccation hurt like hell, Klaus preferred that over losing his mind, really.

After making his way downstairs he held out his hand for Bella to take it. "Come with me, love, let's entertain ourselves."

Bella looked up at him and narrowed her eyes at him. "Where are we going?"

He smiled at that. "You'll have to come with me to find out."

Sighing dramatically, she took his hand and got to her feet. "Alright, let's entertain ourselves then," Bella replied before checking herself over. "Are we going somewhere where I need fancy clothes or is this fine?"

"You can be naked if you wish, it'd only make the entertainment greater for myself."

She eyed him as she allowed herself to be lead out of the compound. "Kinky."

"I'm going to do better, I promise," he smiled at her, gently squeezing her hand. "We don't have anything to worry about anymore. We've dealt with Lucien, Aurora and Tristan, prevented the beast rising and we're once again in the New Orleans that we love so much. It's only fair that we're going to deal with your demons before we can truly enjoy the life that we have."

"Even if I want to find a job?"

"Why would you want to work? I can provide you with everything you need if you've spent all of your money in Europe in the last year?"

"No, I haven't, but I'm not one to stay at home and be pretty, Klaus. I want to do something. Make a difference. Now that I'm free, maybe I want to attend college or something, study medicine or become a historian. Now that I'm not ageing anymore, I could be both! Oh, I could study to my heart's content!"

"Study from home?" Klaus blinked in surprise; he had expected something else and had arranged a big surprise for her but it was her who surprised him.

"Of course not!" She smiled at him then, seeing the disappointed look on his face. "Look, what you love in your friends, their thirst for knowledge, their intellect… You nurture that, why is it so strange that I want to expand my knowledge? I can do whatever I want now and I want that. Or a job."

"You're my queen, Bella, you-" Can't leave, he added in silence. Not with what he had planned.

"And this queen will be very bored if she has to stay at home," she sighed. "Besides, college won't start for another few months, I'm dying to dig through all the shit we stole from the Volturi and learn from that, too, aren't you?"

She had a point, he knew that, but her going off to college and learn something provided security risks, he'd have to think about something to protect her because no vampire would voluntarily go back to college. Everything that he and his siblings knew were from experience, books. Or from times a long time ago when getting an education wasn't that extensive.

"Don't you even think about sending someone with me to college to protect me, Klaus. I can handle it myself," she grinned. "Now, where did you put them?"

"Aren't you the fantastic Cold One hunter, able to sniff them out wherever they are?"

She growled at that. "I've been trying since I got back to New Orleans, asshole. Freya hid them with magic, didn't she? And not just for anyone, for me."

"I merely wanted you to come home first," he admitted playfully. "Haven't seen you in a year and such."

"Uhuh," she eyed him cautiously when they entered the alley behind Rousseau's, Cami's old stomping grounds.

"The previous owner of Rousseau's left Camille the bar in his will; he never changed it after she passed. He died after being in a horrible accident in the Bayou involving some wolves…" Klaus mused. "Camille didn't have a will of sorts and thus Rousseau's was put on the market to be sold. I wasn't too happy about it, since I love coming to Rousseau's, despite Camille's absence. God forbid the new owner turns it into some hippy circus and paint the walls purple with red dots."

"Why are you so afraid of change?"

"I'm not," he replied before stopping at the back door of the bar. "So the rumor is that the same anonymous donor who saved the club Débauche, you may have heard of it - lovely club, lovely ladies and great atmosphere - purchased Rousseau's."

"You didn't!"

"Not me, this anonymous donor," he kissed the top of her head before handing her the keys. "Rousseau's been 'renovating' for quite some time now. People talk about the new owner not having enough money left to fix it or whatever, but frankly, I needed a space to stuff some statues in for a while. After they're smashed, maybe we can look into fixing the place in something that's more suitable for you? You love to cook, you love people, why not do what Camille did and help others?"

Bella growled and punched him in the gut, hard. "I told you, I am going to college and I'm certainly not going to manage Rousseau's for you and turn into the new Camille because that's just an insult to her memory!"

"That's not what I meant, I-"

Bella loved watching Klaus struggle just a little. She appreciated the sentiment and she'd totally love it to manage the bar in her free time or alongside school, but the way he said it made it sound as if he wanted to replace Cami and her memory. "I know that, Klaus," she smiled at him and softly kissed his lips. "I love the sentimental fool that's inside of you, the love that you hold for others. I would love to run Rousseau's with you!"

"No, no, love, you have me all wrong!" Klaus said panicked.

"I'm nothing like Myriam. I love my independence and making my own place in this world, but _you_ bought this bar, Klaus. If you want me to run it, we're going to run it together. If you don't want to do that, it's best to sell this place again," she kissed him again and hugged him. "Thank you though, no one's ever bought me a bar before!" Bella giggled before stepping inside and squealed in delight when she saw the enthralled Cullens wading through the bar as if they were zombies.

He wasn't one to _work_ , do things that humans liked to do and he was certainly not going to start. Klaus Mikaelson was an artist, not a manager. He huffed as he followed her in, dismissing Peter and Alina with a nod. "I still don't want to do this with you," he said to Bella.

"Oh, shush," Bella dismissed him. "You don't even have to show your face or _work_. Rousseau's is big enough to have a small area where you can work on your art and you can show them off in the bar. Hell, isn't there an apartment upstairs? We could turn that into an office and an art studio."

"And?"

Bella shrugged. "Think about it. I love the grand gesture of Rousseau's, but I'm not going to do this alone." She zigzagged through the Cullens and sighed. "Can you call Freya to drop the spells that are making them like this? It's dampening me too and I really really want to feel everything as I tear them apart."

"What if they run off?"

"Doubtful," she replied as she turned around to face him with a big smile on her face. "First off; they won't see me until we touch and they'll be too confused and will demand answers from you. Secondly; let them. I'm faster."

"Very well," he replied as he got out his phone. "It's your party."

"Damn straight."

 **A/N:** OMG OMG OMG one more chapter to go! Have I told you guys lately that I love you? That I'm stunned by how well this story has been received? Well, consider this a thank you :)

The last chapter of this story won't be the END of this UNIVERSE. Apparently when I started to write my new story it wanted to be written as an AU to Beautiful Soul. And that story is short (less than 20k of words) and finished.

The only downside is that its content is really not suitable for ffnet. While I have chapters in my stories that are not suitable, this is an entire fic we're talking about. 90% of the chapters. See my problem?

Follow me on my facebook (link in my profile) or on my website (buggyfiction dot com) to be updated when I'm starting to post it and read it from there.

The only thing of the story that I will post here is the prologue as that's safe :)

xxx Buggy.


	41. All that She Wants

The moment Freya cancelled the spell - or whatever you liked to call it, Bella felt the impact of standing right in the middle of Cold Ones. She was cold, angry, disgusted and hungry. While she couldn't eat them, she could have some blood later. She quickly moved away from them as they started to become more aware to their situation and hopped onto the bar to watch them.

Yes, she wanted to kill them all, but it was sad, too. She didn't want to have to kill them, but they deserved it because they had hurt her, abused her and broken her trust. They had her on the run for so long and it felt great to finally have the upper hand on them.

She had mixed feelings when she killed Rosalie because despite everything, Rosalie valued human life, humanity and everything that came with it. Bella didn't believe she had actively tried to chase her as well, but still, Rosalie had to go. Not one Cold One could remain because they'd create others. And they'd create others and then… well, the Cold One population could once again grow exponentially and Bella really didn't want that to happen. She couldn't allow that to happen.

Enough humans had been terrorized by these glorified walking, talking discoballs.

These Cold Ones were hungry and angry, Klaus didn't need to be the bloody singer to notice that, and right now, they were closing him in like a pack of rabid dogs. Again, he preferred the pain and discomfort of desiccating over going insane any time, his mind was his everything. "Mr. Mikaelson, if you'd be so kind as to give us some blood, we could have a civil discussion," Carlisle Cullen looked as if he was barely keeping it together. Truth be told, Klaus was slightly entertained by that. "Whatever the reason is why you've kept my family here for-"

"Where's Rosalie?" Emmett demanded, pushing Klaus against the wall. "Where's my wife?"

"Oh, terribly sorry to say, but she's dead," Klaus replied as he took hold of Emmett's arm and started to dent it so that the bulldozer would let go of him and he could rip off his arm. He trusted that Bella would come to his rescue - not that he needed rescuing. Klaus could easily take on six insane Cold Ones by himself, except for the fact that they were massive and hard to kill and would likely tear him apart, and that would hurt.

Emmett let go of Klaus, rubbing his arm, speeding up the healing process. "What? How?"

"What do you say, love?" Klaus looked around the Cullens and locked eyes with Bella who was grinning like a loon on top of that bar. "Him first?"

"Go ahead," she giggled as she looked back at him. "He's a tough one."

"What? You want me to do it?"

"Who are you talking to?" Emmett grunted as Klaus punched him. Emmett sloppily lashed out at Klaus and Klaus knew that he was lucky that these vamps hadn't had any blood for quite some time otherwise they'd be more precise and stronger. "There's no one there."

"There is," Jasper replied calmly, looking around the bar as he tried to focus. A part of Bella didn't want to kill him and have Freya turn him into a normal vampire like she'd done to Peter, but Peter had made it abundantly clear that he didn't want to do anything with his former friend for what he'd done. "I don't know where, exactly, it's… I don't know, it's as if she inhabits this place like a blanket. She's angry, hurt… hungry and…"

"Horny," Bella said with a grin and winked at Klaus as he ducked Emmett's punch again.

"She?" Carlisle shook his head as if he was shaking it clear of the cobwebs and then a look of recognition and dread flashed over his face. "Of course."

"Yeah, Carlisle, you should have killed me when you had the chance!" Bella didn't move from her position on the bar. "It's a miracle that nobody is actually making an attempt to help Emmett, Klaus. Take him to another room and have fun with him."

"No," he growled as his werewolf visage bled out and jumped on Emmett's back to pop off his head from his shoulders.

"Nobody make any sudden movements," Carlisle told his family. "Klaus isn't the one we should be worried about."

"Duh," Bella rolled her eyes at that. She enjoyed it so much that Jasper was trying so hard to pinpoint her location and saw him walk into the kitchen. She could feel that he was trying to influence her, but the best part of being the singer was that the gifts the gifted Cold Ones had no longer worked on her.

"It's Bella, isn't it?" Alice piped up, standing close to Edward, ready for him to protect her. "Bella, we mean you no harm."

"Wow."

Emmett's body dropped to the floor and Klaus kicked the head away as far as possible, they were going to have to retrieve it later.

"Show yourself or I'll kill him," Edward growled as he pushed Klaus against the wall much like his brother had done.

"Seriously?" Both Klaus and Bella replied, causing Bella to burst out in laughter. "Oh wow. Look at him being all manly. You know, Klaus? I don't even remember why I was so scared of them. Look at them being all weak and pathetic."

"I know, love."

"Yes, it appears that our Bella grown to her full potential," Carlisle said in the same dulcet tones he'd been using since he started to speak up. "Lord knows what she'll do."

Bella let out a frustrated grunt as she hopped off the bar and grabbed Carlisle to give him flying lessons. "We were going to redecorate, yes?"

"Yes," Klaus replied as he held Edward in a headlock.

"Good!" She smirked at Carlisle as he realized that it was indeed her and tossed him over the bar, right into the wall.

"Bella, please, we can talk about this," he tried to reason with her as she launched herself on top of him and pulled off his legs with ease, throwing them against Esme. "Please, don't."

"Oh, go on, Carlisle, I love hearing you beg," Bella growled at him as she punched a hole in his chest and allowed the venom to flow out of him. "Love, what if we'd set fire to this place?"

"No!"

"Worth a shot," Bella shrugged as she stopped an arm from hitting her and pulled it out of its socket. "Start praying, son of a preacherman because you're going to die. Say hi to Satan when you see him, huh?" She stuffed the arm into the hole she had made in Carlisle's chest and then ripped his head off. Getting to her feet, she aimed for Esme's head and threw Carlisle's head at her, decapitating her with ease. "Damn, that was fucking easy. She did not see that coming!"

She felt how her strength was increasing, even fuelled with her connection to Klaus and Kol, as she leapt over the bar and launched herself at the tiny Alice. It was easy to tear her in half like a piece of paper and threw both ends on opposite sides of the bar. Jasper was next and Jasper was the hardest because he knew to fight, even in this imperfect version of himself, but she had the upper hand, she was still invisible to him.

"I may not be able to influence you, Bella, but I've got your man under my control."

Bella let out a snort. "Does he, now?"

"Of course not," Klaus spat, kicking against Edward's legs so that they'd break and the asshole couldn't use them to gain leverage over him. "His gift is weakened, he's trying hard, but it's not working."

"Good!" She danced around Jasper for a while as he tried to find her still before she got enough of the games and tapped him on his shoulder. Bella positioned herself behind him and punched him hard. "That's for Peter," she punched him again, harder this time. "And that's for being an asshole with powers that should have been used for good and not for harm. Do you have any idea how many people you could have helped? But no, you were too selfish to control yourself and mingle with others!"

Jasper swung at her but she moved and tripped him. Using the momentum, she jumped on his back so that he face planted onto the floor and kept hitting him until there were dents everywhere. She was angry, she was so damn angry and hurt that she kept punching him until Jasper surprised her by throwing her off of him and started to attack her.

He got in a few good punches, but ended up pissing her off even further when he managed to break a chair on Bella and used what remained in his hand to drive a stake through Klaus' heart, causing him to drop Edward to the floor so that Edward could start to heal.

"Oh, you did not just do that," Bella said as she dusted herself off as she got up from the floor.

"What can I say, Bella? You kill my family, I kill your boyfriend."

She was circling Jasper now whilst keeping an eye on Edward. He was easier to kill, but he needed to be the last one. The one she spent most time with. Jasper was only delaying the inevitable for himself. "Are you sure?"

"I staked him, didn't I?"

She let out a snort. "You do know who he is, right?"

Jasper shrugged. "He's a vampire, why do I care?"

"Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a witch who wanted to protect her children from the dangers in the world and created the first vampires."

"Wrong."

"I'm wrong?"

"We were first."

Bella huffed at that. "Oh please, you only exist because a couple of witches had gotten greedy. I exist to remedy that problem." She then pointed at Klaus. "He's one of the Original vampires. They can't be taken down with a regular stake."

"He looks pretty dead to me." Jasper kicked against the lifeless body, only to be surprised when Klaus' hand grabbed his ankle and with his other hand started to pull the stake out of his chest. "What the hell?!"

"Yeah, he's not just an indestructible vampire, but he's also the Original Hybrid. It's the wolf side of him that doesn't keep him down that long when staked," Bella said casually. "He's going to kill you now." She hopped back onto the bar and grinned. "I'll just sit back and enjoy the show."

Klaus growled as he smashed Jasper into a table before picking him up again and threw him into another table. "You know, love, I was thinking…" He lunged for Jasper and started to punch his face. "I know that we've had a rough time for a couple of years and we were only together out in the open for a few months before I turned you…" Klaus grunted as Jasper kicked him off of him and Klaus scrambled back onto his feet. "And then you were gone for a full year killing all of those Cold Ones… and not to forget my enemies…"

"Yes?" Bella grabbed one of the remaining bottles of alcohol and took a large gulp from it.

Klaus threw Jasper into one of the cabinets, smashing it to pieces.

"We're going to need to get that replaced, I actually liked that cabinet," Bella deadpanned, taking another gulp from the bottle.

"Whatever your heart desires, love," Klaus replied, punching Jasper again. "But as I was saying, you have no idea how happy you make me and how badly I want to attempt to make our life a bit more fun."

"Hence buying this bar so you can run it with me?"

"We'll continue discuss the matter of my involvement later," he said as he ducked to avoid a punch from Jasper. "But for now, consider this my engagement gift to you."

"Engagement?" Bella blinked at him, sitting up straight as she put the bottle down. "What?"

"Would you do me the honor of marrying me? Become the Queen of the Quarter and rule with me?"

"I thought I already was your queen, Klaus, why should we get married? We're dead, we can't even get married!"

Growling, Klaus threw Jasper through the bar, causing him to smash into one of the support beams and making the building shake. "We'll compel someone to marry us. I just want it to be official so my brother can't take you away from me."

"Is this still about Kol? We're the best of friends, Klaus. You shouldn't feel threatened by him!"

"It's not him I'm worried about!" Klaus shot at her as he yanked off one of Jasper's arms and threw it at Edward's head to keep him down on the ground.

"What, Elijah? Oh gross, Klaus. Really? He's with Myriam and you know I don't like him very much!"

"Just do me the honor of becoming my wife so that I'm certain he won't take you from me."

"Fine!"

"Good!" Klaus punched Jasper again. "Ring will follow later, it's at home."

"Is it your mother's?"

"Yes."

"No. Absolutely not. If I remember correctly, she's tried to kill you three times now. No way I'm going to wear her ring around my finger. No fucking way."

"Fine! We'll go ring shopping!"

"I want you to make me one!"

"Fine too!"

Edward finally spoke up. "It's as if I'm listening to a phone conversation and am only hearing one side of the conversation."

"Bella and her hybrid vampire just got engaged," Jasper grunted as he ducked away from one of Klaus' punches.

"My Bella?" Edward blinked. "No, she wouldn't do that."

Breaking Jasper in half in a sudden fit of rage, he dropped the two parts onto the floor and headed straight for Edward. "She's mine!"

Bella giggled as she hopped off the bar and jumped around with glee and allowed Klaus to get a few punches in before making her way over to the two and brushed up against Edward so he could see her. "Isn't he wonderful?" she swooned as she took a few steps back to allow Klaus to hit Edward some more. "That's my man! So strong, so… hot… so non-sparkly and damn… that ass."

Edward let out a whine and sloppily tried to fight Klaus, but Bella knew that he knew that he was going to die, seeing as both Emmett and Jasper had just been taken down by this Klaus Mikaelson.

"Can I have a go now, please?" Bella asked sweetly. "Or… no, you know what? Continue to defend my honor. It's pleasing."

"Love, the sooner you kill him, the sooner we can consummate our engagement."

"Ohhhh," Bella cooed with a grin. "Hold that thought! I have the most amazing idea!" She ran around to make sure none of the Cold One parts were touching before returning with some steel chains. She yanked off Edward's arms and tied him up against another support beam before jumping into Klaus' arms. "Fuck me. Now."

"Love, in front of your ex and the other sissy?"

"Uhuh," she giggled before she kissed him, hard. "Please? Let's finish this nightmare with a positive bang. Literally, a bang."

"Oh, kill us already, please!" Jasper begged as he writhed on the floor trying to get to the other half of his body. "We don't deserve this!"

~o.O.o~

"Did you have to burn down an acre of the Bayou?" Elijah complained the moment Klaus and Bella stepped over the threshold of the Compound. "The fire department is trying hard to get it under control and if they don't, a lot of wolf territory will be burnt."

"Six Cold Ones. Lots of venom. Sorry that we didn't anticipate the wind direction, Dad," Bella shrugged as she snatched the glass of blood out of Elijah's hands and drank it. They had fed on their way home, but she was hungry and insatiable. Rousseau's needed a bigger remodeling than originally anticipated.

"I'm happy to hear your nightmare is over now, Bella," Myriam smiled at her. "What are you going to do now?"

"Go to college." She sat down in Klaus' lap and put her arms around his neck. Bella wanted as much contact with him as she could get and he was surprisingly alright with it all. "Manage Rousseau's seeing as Klaus bought it and gave it to me for our engagement."

Myriam spat out her drink as she looked at the both of them in shock. "Tell me that I didn't hear what I just heard."

"You didn't hear me saying that Klaus proposed to me, no," Bella giggled as she ran a hand through his hair. "The way he did it was so… hot."

Amused, Myriam decided to react the way normal people did. "Did he go down on one knee? Present the ring?"

"Oh hell no, I'm not going to wear his mother's ring. That thing is fucking cursed and no, he was beating up Jasper when he proposed," she smiled at Myriam.

"Niklaus, is this true?" Elijah couldn't believe his brother wanting to get married. They'd never even considered doing such a thing, mainly because it was unnecessary. They already lived forever, did they really have to make it hard on themselves to marry another immortal? "What on Earth possessed you to do such a thing?"

"You, brother," Klaus replied as he toyed with a strand of Bella's hair. "When it comes to you, the love that I share with my girlfriend isn't enough. It's never been enough."

"Oh, that's right, you like to steal Klaus' squeezes," Myriam cooed as she looked at Elijah and then realized what had happened. "And he's not wrong about it, either."

"Technically you two weren't dating, dear. Niklaus had his hands full with Bella."

"Well, I, for one thing, thinks it's perfect," Freya hugged Klaus and Bella before sitting down in one of the chairs. "Imagine the big wedding we're going to have to plan! Everything will be perfect! And, should we finally find a solution to Rebekah's little problem, we can get her out of the box to start helping us!"

"No," Bella narrowed her eyes on Freya. "Sure, big wedding or whatever fancies everyone, but you will not be that excited about it. Klaus and I will make the decisions, not you," she said sternly before softly kissing Klaus. "But, before all that, we're going to remodel Rousseau's."

"Great! I'll look up some spells and-"

"By hand!" Bella snapped at her. "Klaus and I are going to do it by hand."

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Elijah said amused as he looked at Klaus. "Have you gone absolutely mental?"

"I've decided to live the way my beautiful Bella wishes to live. There is no harm in enjoying life," Klaus smirked. "Who knows? We might be able to restore the apartments above Rousseau's and find it more appealing than the compound!"

"What!"

"Elijah, I swear to God," Bella said calmly, but with a threatening tone in her voice. "If you're going to obstruct Klaus' happiness in any way, I swear I will box you."

"Over my dead body," Myriam huffed.

"Okay," Bella shrugged. "No offense, Myriam, I love you, but you're sleeping with an asshole."

"But he's my asshole."

Bella looked over her shoulder to see a defeated looking Kol walk in. She exchanged a look with Klaus who gently pushed her off his lap with a nod and she made her way over to him. "What's the matter?" She asked as she put her arms around her best friend and hugged him tightly.

"Davina broke up with me."

"What! Why?"

Kol sighed as he returned the hug. "Apparently she underestimated her own fear towards me and her fear is stronger than her love. I don't blame her, really."

"We'll figure it out, Kol, I promise," she kissed the top of his head and pulled him towards the rest of his family. "You know what?" Bella pushed him into a chair and poured him a glass of bourbon. "You should go to college with me."

"What? Why?"

"To live a little, have fun. Learn more things. And when we find a cure for Rebekah, she can join us." Bella then smiled widely. "We could find people worthy of becoming vampires for you and Klaus to turn and rebuild your empire."

"What about witches?"

"And you can take the potential witches under your wing and educate them, yes," she agreed.

"Alright, college it is," he downed his glass of alcohol and got to his feet. "Do I have permission to eat the criminals in the dungeon? I'm famished."

Klaus shrugged and waved his hand. "So is Bella, so have at it, you two. We'll find some new ones tonight."

Bella kissed Klaus before pulling Kol with her, cheering as they ran off.

Elijah had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that this girl had just changed their entire family dynamic. Niklaus and Rousseau's? Not compelling or hiring people but restoring it himself? Bella taking Kol to college? Niklaus and Bella getting married and potentially moving out?

Perhaps it was the right time that they all lived their own lives, but Elijah wasn't quite sure if he was ready.

Only time would tell if this was the right course of action, but for now, he'd allow his younger siblings and the latest addition to their family do whatever they wanted, as long as it wouldn't harm their family.

"So," Myriam casually started when it was just her and Elijah in the courtyard. "Since your brother won't be using your mother's ring, perhaps you could find a good home for it?"

Elijah sucked in a breath. He was going to kill Niklaus. Hybrid or not, he was going to kill him.

 **A/N:** And that's it. The last chapter of Beautiful Soul. Thank you so much for reading and commenting, coming on this journey with me!

What's next, you may ask? Well, as I said in a previous author's note, I have another story up my sleeve which is an AU from this one. Yep. Totally went there. It's not suitable for ffnet so other than posting the epilogue to inform you that I've started posting it, I won't update that story here.

Follow me on facebook and my website to know when I update that story if you want to read it (links are in my profile). Don't be afraid to say hi!

It's another Twilight/The Originals story and it's finished; I'm currently working on writing the sequel which I'll post here as well once it's time to start posting it.

xx Buggy


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